JAMES W. WIKLUND, d/o/b 3-28-1975, of Branson, was sentenced to over one hundred and fifty (150) years in prison Tuesday, January 13, 2015, in the Circuit Court of Taney County. Senior Judge Carr Woods sentenced Wiklund to thirty (30) years in prison – the maximum – for burglary in the first degree, assault in the first degree, robbery in the first degree, and two (2) counts of kidnapping. Each of those sentences was ordered to be served consecutively with one another. In addition, Woods sentenced Wiklund to three (3) years for the offense of armed criminal action and ten (10) years for tampering in the first degree – also consecutive.

On November 4, 2014, Wiklund was found guilty by a Taney County jury of seven (7) felonies. The case stemmed from a home-invasion committed by Wiklund and Jonathan Hill in late-December of 2012, at a home in Ridgedale, Missouri. Hill was sentenced to twenty-five (25) years in prison for his role in the violent attack, pursuant to a plea agreement.

The jury did not recommend any sentence for Wiklund, because the Taney County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had charged Wiklund as a prior and persistent felony offender – requiring judge sentencing, rather than jury sentencing. In all, Wiklund was given consecutive sentences on seven (7) felonies.