The 23-year-old man charged with breaking into Glenville-Emmons High School last month pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree burglary Thursday in Freeborn County District Court.

John Daniel Bolinger of Glenville said he broke into the school Oct. 16 by using a crowbar to pry open one of the windows of a classroom. Once he crawled inside the building, he grabbed multiple iPads, candy from the concessions area and bottles of prescription medication from the office — damaging doors in the process.

Court documents state school officials initially reported 25 iPads as missing, as well as a laptop computer, a 40-inch flat screen television, a large tote of candy and two bottles of prescription medication.

Bolinger said he planned to sell the iPads for money.

He recounted some of the details of the break-in

during a court hearing Thursday.

Though it is likely Bolinger could qualify for probation and a suspended prison term, he requested he execute his prison term, which would likely be one year and 11 months.

He did not explain his reasoning.

In exchange for pleading guilty to the burglary charge, Assistant Freeborn County Attorney David Walker requested that charges of first-degree damage to property and receiving stolen property be dismissed.

Bolinger has been in custody since the afternoon of Oct. 16 when officers with the Albert Lea Police Department and deputies with the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office conducted a search warrant at 717 Plainview Lane. Bolinger had reportedly been staying there, and officers found several backpacks spread around a bedroom, along with some of the iPads believed to have been taken from the school.

He previously told a Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office detective he was not alone during the burglary but would not name the other people involved.

Not all of the stolen items have been recovered.

His sentencing is slated for Dec. 12.