CASSOPOLIS — Melvin Holliday has spent much of his adulthood behind bars in Indiana.

He will at least get a change of scenery, after he was sentenced to the Michigan Department of Corrections for a 10- to 40-year term at Cass County Circuit Court on Friday. Holliday, a 53-year-old Elkhart, Ind. resident, will get 250 days credit for time already served.

The prison sentence came after he pleaded no contest to home invasion and stolen property charges in February.

The offenses took place in July of last year when Holliday stole a car in Elkhart and drove it to a Niles home on Broderick Way. He pulled the car into the garage and broke into the home from a door in the garage using a tire iron and screw driver and stole items from the home.

Holliday did 10- and 20-year prison sentences for similar crimes in Indiana. He was still on parole in Indiana when he committed the crime in Cass County.

“I believe Mr. Holliday’s criminal history tells the story. Since age 20, he’s spent the majority of his adult life in prison,” said Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Diab Rizk.

Defense attorney Greg Feldman pointed out his client hadn’t hurt or threatened anyone physically. He also mentioned Holliday suffers from a “mental condition.”

For his part, Holliday said he was serving as a deacon at “a unique outreach in Elkhart.”

Holliday was also ordered to pay more than $500 in restitution.