LOS ANGELES – A man convicted for a string of break-ins at the homes of more than half a dozen elderly women in the areas of west Los Angeles and Santa Monica was sentenced today to 210 years to life in state prison.
Jeffery Wayne Langford, 56, was convicted on Feb. 15, 2011, of eight counts of first-degree burglary, six counts of first-degree residential robbery, three counts of criminal threats, two counts each of cutting a utility line and false imprisonment of an elder, and one count of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.
Deputy District Attorney Belle Chen of the Elder Abuse Section prosecuted the case. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Dabney imposed Langford’s sentence at a morning hearing.
The crimes involved seven victims, ranging in age from 75 to 93, and took place between June and August 2008. Two incidents were in the City of Santa Monica and the rest were in the west Los Angeles area.
All of Langford’s victims were elderly women who lived alone in single story homes. In each of the burglaries, the defendant climbed through a window, roused the victims and demanded money, jewelry or silver. The latter demand earned Langford the designation of “The Silverware Bandit.”
In one instance, defendant attempted to choke a victim who tried to stab him with a screwdriver he had placed on her bed. Langford went on to burglarize her home. In another instance, Langford disabled a victim’s medical alert monitor, so she would be unable to call for help.
Prior to this case, the defendant had seven prior “strikes,” alleged in an amended complaint, including convictions in 1982 and 1976 for residential burglary.
