AMITE---On Monday, August 24, 2009, Jermiah Sims, age 20 of Kentwood; Robert Bryan Chester, Jr., age 19 of Kentwood; and Thommy Thanah Cao, age 18 of Kentwood; all appeared in Twenty- First Judicial District Court before Judge Ernest Drake to answer to charges pending against them as a result of an December 16, 2008 arrest by the Kentwood Police Department.

Chester and Cao both pleaded guilty as charged to the offenses of simple burglary, simple arson, and institutional vandalism. Sims pleaded guilty as charged to institutional vandalism.

On December 12, 2008, the three co-defendants broke in to Kentwood High School vandalizing and setting fire to school property.

Sentencing for the three co-defendants is set before Judge Drake on September 15, 2009.