A man who was arrested in April for burglarizing a Palm Coast home while working on a state prison inmate work crew has been convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Jay Working, 34, pleaded no contest on December 3 to burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and petit theft. Following the plea agreement, Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols found Working guilty and sentenced him to eight years in a Florida Department of Corrections prison, minus 217 days for time served.

At the time of his arrest, Working had only 14 days remaining on his original sentence at Putnam Correctional Institution before his scheduled release. That sentence stemmed from a June 2023 arrest in Levy County.

Sheriff Rick Staly commented on the unusual circumstances of the case. “This guy wins the stupid criminal of the year award, or he just likes living in prison,” Staly said. “He was 14 days away from being released from state prison when he committed this crime while on a state prison work crew. I guess he’s going home for the holidays — that is, to state prison. Hopefully, the state won’t give him inmate work crew privileges again.”

Working is currently being held at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, awaiting transfer into Florida Department of Corrections custody.