Instead of contributing to the offering plate as most people do when they attend church, Justin Thomas Beall decided to take some cash for himself from the place of worship.

“It is one of the lowest crimes I can think of and he deserves all the punishment the court can impose on him,” said Assistant Prosecutor Jerry Vigansky.

Beall, 28, of Niles, was sentenced Monday in Berrien County Trial Court to 180 days in jail and two years on probation on one count of larceny in a building.

According to court documents, Beall was caught stealing money at the First Baptist Church in Niles on March 1.

A retired police officer found Beall going through a closet in the church nursery while the nursery attendant was away. When confronted, Beall said he was looking for scissors. Beall had $116 in his pockets, but explained that he had earned the money shoveling a driveway in the morning.

Beall eventually admitted to stealing most of the cash from a purse at the church. He also admitted to taking $5 in an envelope from the pastor’s office.

“Stealing from somebody’s purse as well as the church itself is pretty rotten,” said Judge Dennis Wiley.

Beall also admitted to stealing from First Presbyterian Church in Niles a few weeks earlier, according to court documents.

Beall apologized and said he tends to steal when he is not taking his medication.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Wiley read aloud a list of Beall’s prior convictions, which included unlawful use of a motor vehicle, home invasion and larceny in a building, to name a few.

“If you violate the probation I am about to place you on, you will go to prison — no mistake about it,” Wiley said.

Also Monday, two Niles brothers were sentenced to jail time after they were caught breaking into and stealing from a Niles home in February.

Javonte Martell Milons, 18, was sentenced to 32 months in the Michigan Department of Corrections, while his 17-year-old brother, Juwan, was sentenced to 240 days in jail, 180 days on electronic monitoring and two years on probation.

Both pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree home invasion. Vigansky said Juwan was the only one to admit to the crime and cooperate when initially confronted by police.

The Milons broke into a home in the 900 block of S. 13th Street in Niles on Feb. 23. The victim came home to see one of the subjects running away and his television set in the snow in the backyard, according to court documents.

Also Monday, Andrew Joseph Walker, of Niles, was sentenced to 16 months in prison on one count of carrying a concealed weapon in an automobile.