Winfield Wayne Broadnax was convicted this week in Rowan County Criminal Superior Court of felony obtaining property by false pretenses. He admitted his status as a habitual felon and was sentenced to a minimum of 51 months and a maximum of 74 months in prison by Judge W. David Lee.

On Dec. 6, 2013, a Salisbury Police Department officer responded to Walmart. Communications advised that a person was in the process of completing a fraudulent return and was leaving the store.

The officer spoke to a loss prevention officer who stated he observed the suspect, later identified as Broadnax, selecting items from various shelves in the store and then placing the items in his buggy. The loss prevention officer stated that Broadnax pushed the buggy with the items to customer service to obtain a refund. The Walmart customer service representative provided Broadnax with cash and a gift card. Once Broadnax was detained from leaving Walmart, loss prevention discovered he had been banned from all Walmart stores.

Broadnax was previously convicted of felony forgery on three separate occasions, among other convictions.

Rowan County District Attorney Brandy Cook said if Broadnax hadn’t been prosecuted as a habitual felon, he could received as little as 9 months in prison.