ARLINGTON, Texas -
A DeSoto man found guilty of illegally taking over a luxury home was sentenced Thursday for burglary and theft.
A jury gave David Cooper 10 years of probation and a $10,000 fine. As a condition of his probation, he will serve 90 days in the Tarrant County jail.
During the trial prosecutors showed how Cooper and his wife, Jasmine Williams, moved into a $400,000 house they thought was abandoned. Cooper tried to take over the property using an obscure Texas law.
In reality, the couple who owned the home was in Houston, where the wife was receiving cancer treatment.
"Mr. Cooper, I'm disappointed," said Raymond Dell, the homeowner. "Everything you've shown so far is that you're a con man. You'll do anything -- lie, cheat -- to get out of it."
After the sentence was read, Cooper mouthed the words "thank you" to the jury. He seemed visibly relieved.
His attorney said she was disappointed about the conviction in general, but happy about the sentence.
Prosecutors said they were satisfied with the felony conviction.
"Ten years is a long time to be on probation with all the conditions he has to follow. It's a pretty firm statement of how serious this offense was to the jury," said David Lobingier.
The case was the first adverse possession trial in Tarrant County. There are six others pending.
NOTE: FOX 4 mistakenly reported Cooper received a suspended sentence of 10 years in prison. We regret the error.
