A Mandan man has been sentenced in North Central District Court after entering a change of plea of guilty to a count of Class C felony burglary for a string of thefts in September 2022 on the campus of Minot State University.

Timothy Caldwell, 35, Mandan, appeared before Judge Richard Hagar on March 21 for his sentencing, having entered his change of plea to the charge on Aug. 23, 2023. Caldwell was initially charged with burglary and theft-take $1,000-$10,000, both Class C felonies, after he was identified as the suspect in a string of thefts on Sept. 8, 2022.

Hagar sentenced Caldwell to serve one year and one day of a five-year stint in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, along with three years of supervised probation. The theft count was dismissed in accordance with the plea agreement.

According to court documents, Minot Police were called to investigate a report by MSU campus security of a stolen backpack. The backpack contained the victim’s cellular phone and was located outside a local pawn shop. The victim told investigators they approached the suspect at the pawn shop and identified themselves as the owner of the backpack. The suspect returned the backpack to the victim without incident.

Investigators reviewed CCTV (closed-circuit television) footage and identified the suspect and his vehicle, but were contacted later that day by a second victim reporting items stolen from their dorm room on campus. The same suspect was identified by investigators on CCTV footage leaving the second victim’s room with the backpack, which was later recovered after the suspect left it in a stairwell.

A campus security officer saw a person matching the suspect’s description near Cook Hall later that evening and confirmed his identity as Caldwell by asking to see his driver’s license.

Investigators were informed two days later that additional victims had contacted campus security reporting thefts of various items such as clothing, laptops and nursing textbooks. Investigators determined that Caldwell was a registered sex offender in Mandan and had recently completed probation at the time but was still required to register his address.

Hagar ordered Caldwell to have no contact with two victims and MSU, and to maintain a 50-foot distance provision from all three. Caldwell was assessed $1,100 in court fines and fees, and received credit for one day already served.