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Man posing as fire inspector sentenced for burglarizing Castle Rock restaurants

Michael James Loupe was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Oct. 18.

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A man who posed as a fire inspector to burglarize four Castle Rock restaurants was sentenced last week.

47-year-old Michael James Loupe was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he plead guilty to second-degree burglary, third-degree burglary and criminal impersonation.

>Video above is a 9NEWS report on the burglaries from February 2020.

In February 2020, Loupe posed as a fire inspector to case businesses in Castle Rock to disable their security systems, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office.

Loupe was a convicted felon who most recently spent time at the Rifle Correctional Facility, where he examined fire alarm systems and ran tests of the alarms as a prison trustee, the District Attorney said in a release.

RELATED: Burglar disabled alarms, returned after-hours to rob Castle Rock restaurants

Loupe was eventually tracked down after Department of Corrections (DOC) employees recognized him from a Crime Stoppers alert, the DAs office said.

On Oct. 13, Loupe plead guilty and was sentenced on Oct. 18.

“What this defendant did was economically harmful to the businesses he targeted, but it was more insidious than that alone,” said Deputy District Attorney Joel Zink, who prosecuted Loupe. “He also attacked our trust for one another as community members. This sentence holds him accountable for his manipulative actions and serves as a warning to others who would seek to do the same.”

According to the District Attorney's Office, Loupe had a criminal history including theft, burglary and robbery.

RELATED: Deputies warn of police impersonator targeting women

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