Gainesville woman takes plea agreements in 2 cases

Stolen gas jugs, a compressor, a compound bow and a peace pipe led to anything but peace for Gainesville resident Jessie Cullen after she was sentenced in two separate burglary cases from 2025.

Cullen entered pleas of guilty to possession of a controlled substance in one case and to second degree burglary and stealing $750 or more in the second case. Pursuant to a plea agreement, charges of receiving stolen property and unlawful possession drug paraphernalia were dismissed. 

Cullen was sentenced to a 120-day program in the Missouri Department of Corrections on both cases to run concurrent. She has a five year back-up sentence that can be executed if she fails to complete the program. She is also ordered to pay restitution and a restitution hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 9.

Both cases stem from burglaries less than a month apart.

According to the probable cause statement prepared by Ozark County Deputy Vesa Phelan, on Sept. 9, 2025, he was notified of a burglary in Tecumseh. 

The caller said his brother had visited their hunting cabin and discovered the garage door had been kicked in. According to the man, the burglary occurred sometime within the previous two weeks, and the following items were reported stolen: four red gas jugs (two marked “diesel” and two marked “gas”), a Rigid mini-wheelbarrow compressor, an orange Central Machine 8-inch bench grinder and a Pittsburgh 2-ton jack. 

Phelan then reportedly assisted Ozark County Deputy Jeff Lane with a call of a suspicious vehicle on County Road 328 in Pontiac. 

“I observed a vehicle owned by Jesse Cullen, who is known to frequent County Road 328 and has been seen multiple times at the nearby Warren Bridge access, close to the burglary location. In plain view at the rear of the vehicle was a Rigid mini wheelbarrow compressor and a red gas jug marked “gas,” matching the description of items stolen from the Tecumseh cabin. 

The report says that Cullen was with a man, who is not named in the court document, but the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department identified in a Facebook post following the incident as Brandon Sanchez. Both he and Cullen had outstanding warrants and were placed under arrest. 

Cullen reportedly denied involvement in the burglary and declined to speak further. Sanchez also refused to speak in a similar manner, the report says. 

The vehicle was towed and impounded at the OCSD. A probable cause search revealed additional items reported stolen from the Tecumseh cabin including the bench grinder and jack, along with other items that officers later linked to another Tecumseh burglary. Lane also reportedly found drug paraphernalia in the passenger floorboard and center console, which tested positive for meth. 

Then on Sept. 22, 2025, Phelan and Deputy Jeff Lane received information about a separate burglary at a second residence in the Caney Mountain district involving Cullen. 

The officers responded to the second residence and met with the homeowner, who told them that on Aug. 28, 2025, Cullen was supposed to pick him up from the hospital in West Plains. He said it should have taken her approximately 10 minutes to reach the hospital, as she was residing in West Plains at the time. Instead, it took nearly three hours for her to arrive there to pick him up.

The man said that prior to his hospital stay, Cullen was working for him as a live-in housekeeper and caregiver. Therefore, she had an intimate knowledge of the home’s layout and specific locations of his valuable items through her time serving in that capacity. 

He believed within that three hour delay before she arrived at the hospital, she unlawfully entered his home, likely by reaching through the doggie door and unlocking the main door, a method she knew from previously living there. He said he believes she then took several high-value items. 

Phelan wrote that multiple items that the man reported stolen from his home were included in the inventory listing of Cullen’s vehicle when the officers found it and performed an inventory search on Sept. 7, in reference to the first reported burglary. However, because they did not know about the second burglary at that time, those items had not be recovered. Instead, they had been given back to Cullen with the vehicle.

The additional items included a 70-pound compound bow, a peace pipe, drill sets, extension cords and a vintage wooden box. 

Lt. Matt Rhoades later conducted a traffic stop on Cullen’s vehicle and found items from the second burglary inside the vehicle. He then arrested Cullen for the burglary at the second residence.