5 men recently sentenced for copper theft

Dunklin County Prosecu-ting Attorney Stephen Soko-loff and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jonce Chidister announced on Wednesday, Oct. 29, that five men were sentenced to prison during the past two months for stealing copper wire from irrigation units in Dunklin County. Frankie Pitts and Jimmy Linley, both of Kennett, were sentenced on Sept. 10, by Presiding Circuit Judge Stephen Sharp to three years and seven years, respectively, in the Missouri Department of Corrections upon their pleas of guilty to the class C felonies of stealing. The charges stemmed from investigations by the Dunklin County Sheriff's Department into a series of thefts of copper wire from center pivot irrigation systems.

On Oct. 8, Donald Fowler, of Holcomb, Mo., and Charles Thompson, of Clarkton, Mo., were each sentenced to five years in the Department of Corrections for their involvement in a separate set of irrigation wire thefts along with Robert King, of Clarkton, who was sentenced to seven years in the Department of Correc-tions on Oct. 22. Fowler, Thompson, and King were also sentenced by Judge Sharp after pleading guilty to the class C felonies of stealing.

These sentences are in addition to three other prison sentences handed down this year and the end of last year to individuals pleading guilty to theft of wire, James Kuehl, of Campbell, was sentenced to seven years in the Department of Corrections in January, Geneva Ferguson was sentenced to a five year sentence in January, and Phillip Bailey, of Kennett, was sentenced to six years in August of 2007.

Sokoloff stressed that copper wire theft remains a priority in his office and that offenders would continue to be prosecuted.

"These thefts are serious crimes that have been, and will continue to be, vigorously prosecuted by my office. These thieves do tens of thousands of dollars of damage to get a couple of hundred dollars worth of wire, and disrupt businesses and other operations," Sokoloff said. "We need the help of the public to solve these cases and urge anyone with information to contact law enforcement."

Chidister reminded the public that, "These cases are not always easy to solve. They take a large amount of work and investigation by officers. We welcome assistance from the public, and we urge anyone who sees suspicious activity near fields or other locations with metal to call law enforcement immediately.

"These thefts are exceedingly costly to farmers, both in lost money to replace the wire and in lost time without the use of the pivot."

Chidister went on to thank the Sheriff's Department for its continued hard work and effort in the investigation of these thefts, and expressed the hope that others looking to make money at the expense of area farmers would see these sentences as an example of the penalties for stealing copper wire.

Anyone with information regarding theft of copper wire or metal are encouraged to call the Dunklin County Sheriff's Department at (573) 888-2409.