On Tuesday, April 19, a Montgomery County jury returned a Life sentence for Charles Earl Sampson, 48, for his fourth Burglary of a Habitation conviction. Sampson was found guilty in the burglary of the home of a 71 year old widow in Magnolia that occurred on July 16, 2010. The woman was not home at the time, but her son, Houston Police Officer John Heimann, drove by the house and saw an unfamiliar truck parked in the driveway. Upon entering his mother’s home, Heimann discovered Sampson coming out of a back bedroom, holding a pillowcase full of his mother’s personal effects. Heimann, who was still in his police uniform, pulled his service pistol and ordered Sampson to the ground. As Heimann reached for a phone to call 911, Sampson ran away into the woods surrounding the home, but was apprehended shortly after and held the burglar at gun point until Montgomery County law enforcement officers arrived to take Sampson into custody.
At the time of the burglary, Samson was on parole from a previous life sentence for Burglary of a Habitation received in 1993, and had previously been convicted of two other Burglaries of Habitation, a Robbery, and a Forgery. This will be Sampson’s third trip to prison.
“Sampson is obviously never going to stop victimizing law abiding citizens,” stated Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon. “Our office will be doing everything in its power to make sure that this time Sampson stays in prison where he belongs.”