Man sentenced to 20 years in prison for Springfield home invasion

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — One of two homeless men charged with several felonies for a home invasion has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Online court documents show Justin Michael Lentz pleaded guilty to 10 charges in April 2024. He’s been sentenced to 17 years for first-degree burglary and three years for third-degree assault, which will run consecutively. The sentences for the remaining charges are to run concurrently.

Lentz’s co-defendant in this case, William Roy Rush, is scheduled to be in court on Oct. 7 for a jury trial.

According to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO), deputies were called to a residence on North Farm Road 171, where an elderly couple said they had been the victims of a home invasion and robbery.

A release from GCSO said the couple told deputies that two men forced their way into the home, sprayed them with chemicals and restrained them.

Documents say the couple was assaulted repeatedly for over two hours as the men burglarized their home.

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