A 23-year-old North Carolina man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Cherokee County General Sessions Court to burglarizing four convenience stores.

All of the break-ins, a defense attorney said during the hearing, were related to a “bath salt” addiction.

Jason V. Lewis Jr., whose address is listed in court records as Hummingbird Lane, Mooresboro, N.C., was accused of breaking into the Carolina Line convenience store on Feb. 7, 2011, and with subsequent convenience store burglaries in August, October and November of 2011.

During the August 2011 burglary of a convenience store on Highway 11, Lewis allegedly first entered the store to inquire about a line of credit. When he was rejected, he allegedly returned after the store closed and broke in to steal bath salts.

Bath salts, a previously legal synthetic drug the effects of which mimic those normally associated with methamphetamine, were stolen during two of the four break-ins. Cash or cigarettes were stolen during the others, Assistant Solicitor Kim Leskanic relayed in court.

Certain chemicals in bath salt drugs have since been added to the federal list of controlled substances, making them illegal to sell or possess.

During the November 2011 burglary, Leskanic said blood was found at the scene. When police interviewed Lewis, Leskanic told the court, he had a cut on his arm. Lewis allegedly told authorities he couldn’t remember if he had broken into the store.

Attorney Trent Pruett, who represented Lewis, said Lewis had no prior criminal record and the attorney asked the court to consider sentencing under the state’s Youthful Offender Act.

Circuit Court Judge Mark Hayes decided to impose an indeterminate YOA sentence not to exceed five years on three of the charges, and a consecutive term of five years of probation on the fourth charge.

Lewis will have to pay $2,830 in restitution and the probation can be terminated if the restitution is paid in full, the judge ruled.

When given an opportunity to address the court, Lewis said he had been going through a hard time in his life and made the mistake of turning to bath salts.

“It got ahold of me,” he said. “I never thought it would be like this.”