Meriden Man Gets 10.5 Years for Middlefield Home Invasion

A Meriden man who served eight years in prison for manslaughter was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years and six months in federal prison for his part in a Middlefield home invasion in 2011.

Shane Leverette, 44, who previously went by the name Shane Baltas, will also have to serve three years of supervised release once he gets out of jail, according to a news release from the U.S. Justice Department.

Leverette admitted to a federal judge in New Haven in April that he stole a semi-automatic rifle after entering a home on Jackson Hill Road on Feb. 16, 2011, with the intention of stealing money and drugs.

Leverette and an accomplice, Randy Cochran, 32, of the Plantsville section of Southington, were dressed in black and wore baseball hats with the DEA logo and bandanas to cover their faces when they entered the home and threatened two adults inside at the time.

Cochran struck one of the victims with a handgun, causing the weapon to fire. The victim's head started to bleed after being hit. He was sentenced last July in state superior court to five years in prison for his role in the home invasion.

Both suspects were taken into custody after both state police and Middletown police surrounded the residence and arrested them.

Leverette, who also previously served 12 years in prison for a firearms, racketeering and narcotics conviction in 1999, was on federal supervised release at the time of the home invasion.

Leverette has been detained since his arrest.  His accomplice was prosecuted in state court.