(KIWA Staff Photo)Rock Rapids, Iowa — One of the two men accused in a courthouse break-in in Rock Rapids last December has been sentenced.
Authorities say 39-year-old Brandon High Pipe of Rapid City, South Dakota, and 18-year-old Luciano Sanchez of Denver, Colorado, faced six charges each in connection with the incident:
- First-degree criminal mischief
- Two counts of conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony
- Third-degree burglary
- Reckless use of fire, explosives, or destructive devices
- Willful disturbance
The charges stem from a December 16, 2025, burglary at the Lyon County Courthouse in Rock Rapids.
This week, High Pipe was sentenced on his charges. Court records indicate he pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal mischief and two counts of third-degree burglary. Charges of reckless use of fire, explosives, or destructive devices; conspiracy to commit non-forcible felony; and willful disturbance were dismissed as part of the plea bargain.
On the criminal mischief charge, he was sentenced to a ten-year prison term. On each of the remaining counts of third-degree burglary, he was sentenced to five years. He is to serve the terms consecutively, for a twenty-year prison term, with credit for time served.
Meanwhile, Sanchez is set to change his plea via a Zoom meeting scheduled for September 23rd, so, presumably, he too is set to accept a plea bargain. A trial in his case had been scheduled for next Tuesday. After an alleged jail assault, he was also charged with assault by inmate with bodily fluids or secretions, a class D felony. The Zoom plea hearing is on both of his cases.
