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Three Sentenced For Theft Of Copper Wire From International Paper
February 19, 2014
Three of four people charged have been sentenced in connection with the theft of over a half ton of copper wire from International Paper in Cantonment.
Thomas Donald Cox, 38, was found guilty of grand theft and sentenced to two years probation. Adjudication was withheld against Travis Wayne Hancock, 23, and Jacques Pierre Richard, 35, as they were sentenced to six months community control followed by 18 months probation after their no contest pleas to grand theft charges.
All three men were ordered to stay away from International Paper in Cantonment.
A fourth defendant, 24-year old William Maxwell Stewart has pleaded not guilty to grand theft and is set for a jury trial later this month.
IP Security contacted the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office last August to report they had located copper wire that was taken from the Cantonment facility by a group of contract workers. Deputies contacted the suspects and each gave a written confession, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.
Approximately 1,220 pounds of copper wire was recovered and returned to International Paper. A vehicle was seized, and deputies learned that other copper wire stolen from IP had been transported to an Alabama recycling center 10-15 other times.
Comments
16 Responses to “Three Sentenced For Theft Of Copper Wire From International Paper”
Just because some seem more worthy of being robbed than others, does not mean they are, nor would it make theft acceptable.
Just because valuable material is going to a dumpster, does not mean it is going to a dump.
Just because stolen property was eventually returned — some of it anyway — does not mean no harm was done. People are tied-up tracking down scummy thieves, dealing with the law enforcement folks and the justice department.
People who don’t see the problem will likely repeat the problem.
Reality Check – you are way off base on what a judge can do.
Perhaps you need a refund on your legal education friend.
Thank you Billy D.
Travis, thank you for saying what you did. While there’s no excuse for taking property that doesn’t belong to you at least you came forward as a man to admit wrong doing and I hope you can be a better person for realizing and admitting wrong. You’re a better man than some for being up front about it. For that you should hold your head high. Good luck in your future.
It was a poor decision. I’m sure the majority of you have made one or two in your lifetime. Not but one of us had been involved in this “10-15 times.” This was a far cry from stealing an A/C unit off the side of a church. All material taken was going to be thrown in a dumpster. No restitution because I.P. recieved their property back in this case. No property destroyed. Just reputations of ourselves and the ones we worked for. Losing a job that I LOVED was enough of a lesson for me. Being on community control and probation means I am paying the costs of my supervision..not sucking up tax dollars by sitting in jail. For those of you that do not know, community control is basically house arrest. Which is not a walk in the park. I’m ashamed of what I did as I’m sure the others are too. Lessons learned, they don’t go away and they don’t come cheap, regaurdless of what you seem to think..
Just one more warning = Lock any doors to crawl spaces! Vacant homes are stripped of the copper plumbing too.
PEOPLE….. This is NOT our Judges doing this. The State Attorney offers these deals to the Clients. The only thing the Judges do is allow the deal to be excepted BUT even then he/she cant do much more than the Minimum Mandatory, which after the State gets done refiling the Information and changing the charges to fit their plea deals, there’s not much HE/SHE can add to the sentences. He/She has their hands tied.
You people need to get educated in the way the Criminal System works before you start pointing fingers to “in this case” the WRONG PEOPLE!!!! Not to mention the fact that our Jails are over populated, there are hundreds of new cases coming in every other day, and all these State Employees (State Attorneys, Public Defenders, Clerk of Courts, etc.) have way to large of a case loads and are extremely under budgeted to handle it. Is that their Fault… UMMMM NO, but they have to do whats best with what they are given. (Which is not much)
So start at the Source, be upset with #1 the Criminal, and #2 whomever credited this very Small Budget for those hard working ones trying to handle all these Criminals. Or better yet, quit complaining and do something about it yourself! Go get a Law Degree and making your own change!
Any restitution from the thief’s? Did they run property in the process? A real estate agent showed me several house that had their AC stripped of copper. Who pays the deductible? I agree with you that the sentence seems nonsensical.
If you are a homeowner or individual citizen: Hide, or put concertina wire or electrified fences around your copper AC/ heat-pump coils, don’t leave copper wiring around construction of a new home
If you are a large company with large deposits of copper wiring or tubing, do all of the above…
These thieves are now incentivized to continue this kind of crime. Thank you Judge promoting Grand Theft of copper.
10 – 15 times 1200 lbs @ $3.00 a pound, nice haul for a little slap on the wrist. Where do I sign up, I’ll take some of that action. (Parody)
how embarrassing is this sentencing anyway? And we allow these judges to continue this charade against LEO’s by letting these fools go with less than a good slap on the wrist. VOTE THEM OUT and send the MESSAGE to the next judge. The law abiding people of this area are TIRED of being treated as bottom feeders. It’s time to shut the bleeding heart lawyers and judges down!!
What a terribly unjust slap on the wrist that was.
These guys will now have low self esteem and need treatment .
Yeesh!
More like a pat on the back than a slap on the wrist.
This is why we have criminals on our streets. The LEOs arrest them and the judge slaps their wrists and lets them go.
My gosh what a stiff sentence. I wonder if its concurrent or consecutive.
Did the Alabama Recycling Company get in trouble for recieving stolen property ? I am shocked that the copper has not been melted yet with the high price of copper.