A elderly woman in Suffolk was beaten and tied up by a gang of home invaders last year, but this week all three were sentenced to long prison terms.

From the Suffolk News-Herald:

Aaron James Brennan, 23, Clinton Matthew Ivey, 31, and Jabree Newman-Mumford, 17, received their sentences Thursday in Suffolk Circuit Court. Ivey was sentenced to 44 years to serve, and Newman-Mumford received 31 years to serve. Brennan received a sentence of 215 years, which was in line with what the jury recommended at his trial.

The Virginian-Pilot story goes into more detail about how the attack was staged:

Sally Perry was sitting in her rural home on Freeman Mill Road on the night of March 4, 2009, when her little dog, Max, growled.

Perry, 66, a widow who lives alone, peered out of her front window, saw nothing and sat back down at about 11:30 p.m. to continue watching the news.

Then, three men burst through her front door. One was holding the bolt cutters they'd used to get inside.

The only gun in Mrs. Perry's house was an old .22 rifle, which the robbers found stored away and employed to threaten her. So that's one lesson: keep your guns where you can reach them.