A diesel mechanic in Germantown received a 60-year sentence Wednesday for netting $30,000 worth of burgled goods from Montgomery County homes.

Andrew Tyler Olden, 24, of Frederick County, Md., was charged with eight counts of first-degree burglary, seven counts of theft between $1,000 and $10,000, and one count of theft between $10,000 and $100,000.

Olden said he committed the burglaries — often on his lunch breaks while working at an automobile dealership in Germantown — to sustain a heroin habit. Olden burglarized homes in Boyds, Damascus and Clarksburg, according to records filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

Judge Nelson W. Rupp Jr. delivered the sentence, suspending all but 20 years. The judgment includes five years of supervised probation and an order that Olden pay $31,595 in restitution to victims.

Olden was accused of burglarizing eight residences between April 20 and May 27, 2011, according to court records.

Assistant State's Attorney Lynn Nixon said the Montgomery County burglaries were part of a multicounty crime spree.

In October, a Frederick County judge sentenced Olden to 15 years with three years of probation on first-degree burglary charges, according to online court records. Olden and his girlfriend were linked to at least 11 burglaries in Frederick County. On Jan. 17, a Howard County judge handed down a two-year sentence for first-degree burglary.

Nixon, who declined to comment after the ruling, told the judge that burglary victims had suffered more than monetary losses. One of the victims, Carlotta Woodward, addressed the court on Wednesday. She said she was a newlywed and her family only been living in their home for two months.

"He took away my sense of security I had in my new home," Woodward said, in a tearful testimony.

Among the stolen items, Woodward said, were jewelry pieces she received from her mother. "It's all gone," Woodward said. "I'll never get those heirlooms back."

According to court documents, Olden pawned the jewelry at a shop at Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg. Police allege the jewelry was taken to New York City and melted down to gold for profit. Charges have been filed against the business's owner, Kyong Cha Fromme, according to court records.

Olden said that he had relapsed after a year of sobriety and had been trying to get his life in order.

Defense attorney Timothy E. Clarke said Olden's son was born days after he was arrested in June. "He's never held his son," Clarke said after the ruling.

Olden read an apology to the victims before the judge rendered his sentence.

"I am not a bad person," Olden said during his testimony. "I just made some bad mistakes."

Rupp, the judge, said he did not think the intensity of Olden's criminal actions were consistent with drug addiction.

"I think you were committing crimes because you wanted to commit the crimes and you liked it," Rupp said.