Sentencing has been handed down to a Highland Township man caught breaking into a local church.

22-year-old Calvin Vallette was arrested May 25th after the incident at the Highland Hills Baptist Church on Woodruff Lake Road near Milford Road. He pleaded guilty to breaking and entering a building with intent and was sentenced Thursday in Oakland County Circuit Court to 180 days in jail and 18 months of probation. However, the judge ordered that the balance of Vallette’s sentence would be suspended if he entered the community corrections program that will require a combination of community service and substance abuse counseling.

Vallette was caught by the church’s pastor after he had arrived to find that the building had been broken into and that the party responsible was possibly inside the church. The pastor found Vallette and held him until deputies arrived. The pastor told authorities that cash was missing from his drawer and a large quantity of cash in small denominations was found in Vallette’s pocket. He eventually admitted to police that he had broken into the church on two prior occasions. (JK)