CASSOPOLIS — Imagine arriving to your summer cottage only to find someone had been living there without permission for several days, eating your food, drinking your beverages and using your bathroom.

That was the case for two families earlier this year in Cass County.

Gary Franklin Coons, 20, of Eau Claire, broke into and lived for several days in a cottage on Adams Avenue in Silver Creek Township near Dowagiac in March.

Coons was sentenced to two years probation and 300 days in Cass County Jail for the offense Friday in Cass County Circuit Court.

Assistant Prosecutor Tiffiny Vohwinkle described Coons’ actions as very brazen.

“He ate their food, drank their beer and used their toiletries… the [cottage owner’s] children are terrified of going back to the cottage,” Vohwinkle told the court.

In a separate, but similar case set for sentencing Friday, Christopher Dale Grantham, 19, of Jones, broke into and lived in a summer cottage on Lily Lake in Jones in May.

The owners arrived to find Grantham hiding in a boat.

Judge Michael Dodge sentenced Grantham to 180 days in jail for the offense.

Also Friday:

• Ralph Devon Jones, 18, of Edwardsburg, was sentenced to three years probation and a year in jail on one charge of home invasion in the first degree. Dodge is allowing Jones to serve time on tether. Jones and a juvenile co-defendant stole a shotgun from a home in Edwardsburg in January.

• Tyler Ronnie Nickens, 24, of Dowagiac, received two years in prison on one charge of felony larceny in a building as a habitual offender fourth. Nickens forced entry to a Dowagiac home in June and stole items.

• Bradley Shane King, 20, of South Bend, Ind., was sentenced to two years probation and 56 days in jail with credit for 56 served on several charges, including conspiracy to commit breaking and entering. King and two others attempted to steal a washer dryer unit from a home in Milton Township in March, but were caught in the act. Dodge ordered King to successfully complete his senior year of high school as a condition of his probation.

• Marlin Lee Grose, 39, of Dowagiac, was sentenced to 270 days in jail for having a cell phone while incarcerated at the Cass County Jail. He was caught with the phone in May.

• David Lee Brooks, 47, of Elkhart, received two years probation and 270 days in jail for driving a moped in Edwardsburg in June with a blood alcohol content of .20.

• Amber Maree Morrow, 20, of South Bend, was sentenced to two years probation and 11 days in jail with credit for 11 served on a charge of breaking and entering with intent to commit larceny. Morrow and two others attempted to steal a washer dryer unit from a home in Milton Township in March, but were caught in the act.