Out-going President Barack Obama might be in the mood for issuing pardons and commutations, but Chief District Judge Jeffrey Wilson in Durango is having none of it – at least not in the case of a former Bayfield exterminator who was sentenced to 21 years in prison for multiple burglaries.

After serving about 4½ years in prison, Charles Edward Trogdon, 56, asked for a reconsideration in sentence. He cited his deteriorating health, his wife’s deteriorating health and his good behavior in prison as reasons why Judge Wilson should reduce the sentence.

But during a resentencing hearing last week, Trogdon refused to accept responsibility for the crimes. “I feel sorry for all the victims robbed, but I am not the one who did these things,” he said.

The lack of confession didn’t sit well with Wilson.

“The defendant’s denial of guilt can only be characterized by the court as disingenuous and a slap in the face of his many victims,” Wilson wrote in his order Thursday. “The evidence of the defendant’s guilt was overwhelming, and the court has no doubt that the defendant was guilty of offenses for which he was convicted.”

Wilson did agree to knock two years off the 21-year prison sentence, citing Trogdon’s worsening medical condition. He also may have sent a favorable message to a parole board, writing, “While the court imposed an extremely punitive sentence originally, the court did not intend to impose a sentence that would last all or most of the defendant’s life.”

He added: “Had the defendant been able to acknowledge his guilt and at least apologize to his victims, the court would have considered a more substantial reduction than the reduction being granted.”

Prosecutors and investigators said Trogdon stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of guns, cash, jewelry, collector coins, and other valuables from dozens of victims during his 30-year career as an exterminator in Archuleta and La Plata counties.

Trogdon would gain the trust of his customers by sending them gifts, listening to their stories and sharing his own stories all the while stealing from them, District Attorney Christian Champagne said at the time.

His customers trusted him enough to give him their security codes and tell him where they hid a key so he could spray for pests while they were away. In some cases, the thefts occurred during scheduled visits. In other incidents, he returned to his customers’ homes and broke in while they were away.

All the while, he was living an extravagant lifestyle, which included multiple houses, boats, snowmobiles and travel around the world.

He was finally caught Nov. 1, 2010, when a woman watched him enter her home without permission, open a dresser drawer and steal money where money previously had gone missing.

“I think the phrase is caught red-handed, and that’s exactly what happened here,” Deputy District Attorney Alex Lowe said Jan. 12 during Trogdon’s resentencing hearing.

Law enforcement served multiple search warrants at Trogdon’s home and recovered dozens of items that had been reported stolen from customers’ homes over a period of many years.

Trogdon said he purchased many of the items at local flea markets, a story he maintained last week. Jurors didn’t buy it, and neither did Judge Wilson.

The 12-person jury convicted him in January 2012 on 16 counts, including felony burglary, felony theft and attempted theft. He was charged with only the most recent thefts because of a three-year statute of limitations.

“Mr. Trogdon, I don’t have any doubt you’re guilty,” Wilson said in 2012 during the sentencing hearing. “I listened to all the evidence, and I think that what you’re convicted of, what you’re charged of, was just the tip of the iceberg of what you did.”

Several of his victims opposed a reduction in sentencing.

As of Thursday, Trogdon’s earliest possible parole hearing was December 2020. It is possible the two-year reduction will make that date sooner, but parole boards typically look at several factors before granting early release, including a prisoner’s health, behavior, remorse and willingness to take responsibility.

In general, defendants serve 65-80 percent of their prison terms.

Trogdon, who is being held in Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility in Cañon City, hadn’t been made aware of the ruling as of Thursday afternoon, said his Denver defense attorney, David Japha.

“Obviously, I would have liked a greater reduction,” Japha said. “That’s what I asked for.”

shane@durangoherald.com