CROWN POINT | James Higgason III never wanted to be his father.

The Hammond man cried Monday as he told Lake Criminal Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. that it hurt him to be standing in the courtroom awaiting his sentence for an April burglary.

Two of Higgason's children sat in the courtroom listening to their father's lengthy arrest record. Higgason said his own father was in prison.

"Do I feel like I'm messed up? Yes, I do," Higgason said. "I push my kids to be better than I am."

Stefaniak sentenced Higgason on Monday to five years in prison, two years in Community Corrections and six years of probation for burglarizing the garage of a Hammond police officer in April.

His co-defendant, Ronald Hamilton, 34, of Gary, was sentenced last week to seven years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a felony burglary charge.

A Lake Criminal Court jury convicted 39-year-old Higgason earlier this month of felony burglary. He pleaded guilty to being a habitual offender after the jury's verdict came in, Lake Criminal Court records state.

Deputy Prosecutor Nicholas Barnes had argued for 15 years of prison time.

Barnes noted Higgason had 17 arrests since 1987, with four misdemeanor and two felony convictions.

"He's a hardened criminal brazenly thumbing his nose at the system," Barnes said. "He doesn't understand he can't take things that don't belong to him."

Defense attorney Mark Gruenhagen said Higgason was a good father and worker with a drug and alcohol problem.

"Let the punishment fit the crime," he said, noting no one was injured and no weapons were used in the burglary.

Higgason had requested alternative sentencing so he could continue to provide for his children. He said he makes between $80,000 and $100,000 a year as a laborer.

Stefaniak imposed a split sentence and told Higgason he needed substance abuse treatment.

Higgason still has two other cases pending, court records show.