Johnson County Dist. Atty. Paul Morrison wants Lawrence resident Harvey Irby to know he’s sorry.

“I’m ashamed and embarrassed by the way this case was handled,” Morrison said, referring to 23-year-old Travis Swanson’s sentence of 24 months on probation after pleading guilty to attempted burglary in Overland Park. The sentence was part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

“This should not have happened,” Morrison said.

In February, Swanson, who was then living in Lawrence, pleaded no contest to stealing Irby’s garage door opener, waiting until he left for work and then helping himself to Irby’s property — jewelry, cameras, binoculars, leather jackets, a portable CD player, three custom-made knives and two pairs of $150 Serengeti sunglasses.

Swanson was put on 18 months probation and ordered to pay Irby $3,743 restitution — even though Irby pegged his losses at $5,000.

Morrison was upset because Swanson was charged with attempted burglary in Johnson County seven weeks after he was sentenced in Douglas County.

“This is clearly somebody who’s outside the high-risk offender guidelines” for offering plea agreements, Morrison said.

Morrison said he’d seen a July 26 article in the Journal-World in which Irby complained that Swanson’s court-ordered restitution was based on market value rather replacement value.

Irby said he hoped that when Swanson appeared in Johnson County court, his sentence would include time in jail.

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Morrison did, too. But when he checked Swanson’s file, he realized that an assistant attorney already had entered a plea agreement calling for 24 months probation.

“That attorney is no longer with this office,” Morrison said. “Unfortunately, when this office enters an agreement, it has to stand by its word.”

Irby said he appreciated Morrison’s apology.

“Oh, I know — there’s the whole buck-stops-here thing, but, really, I can’t fault him,” Irby said. “It’s the system that’s got to change. We can’t keep letting these guys off.”

Still, Irby said he’s irked at Morrison’s office.

“I went over there about two weeks before the (sentencing) and I tried to tell them what all had happened over here; and I said I’d come to court to tell the judge myself,” Irby said. “But I couldn’t get anybody to listen to me. They said it wouldn’t do any good to come over because I wouldn’t be allowed to testify.”

Swanson isn’t out of the doghouse.

“I can assure Mr. Irby that we’ll be making sure Mr. Swanson complies with every condition of his probation,” Morrison said. “And I mean every condition.”

Irby said he’ll believe it when he sees it.

“(Swanson) was ordered to pay restitution back in — when? February? April?” he said. “Well, I haven’t seen a dime.”

Efforts to reach Swanson for comment were unsuccessful.