By Debby Woodin
Globe Staff Writer
NEOSHO, Mo. —
Dwight Laughlin’s day has finally come.
A convicted burglar who faced spending the rest of his life in prison, Laughlin was sent the final word Friday that his 40-year prison sentence won’t stick anymore and he can go home.
“It’s been a long time. It’s been a long time coming,” Laughlin said by telephone earlier this week of the prospect of getting out of prison.
The Missouri Supreme Court ordered him discharged from the sentence he has been serving for 17 years. The state attorney general had until Friday to ask for a rehearing on the case.
Laughlin, 51, was convicted in Newton County of charges of burglary and property damage in connection with a break-in Feb. 4, 1993, of the Neosho Post Office.
The state’s high court ruled that county authorities did not have jurisdiction to prosecute Laughlin because the post office is federal property.
He would have served less than 10 years if he had been convicted of similar charges in federal court.
“I was just an idiot,” he says of the criminal history that netted him the 40-year sentence. “There’s no profit in being a crook.”
For more on the story, see the Saturday edition of the Globe.
