Man Gets 7 Years for Stealing Obama's Teleprompter

[Valin]

NBC Chicago: Eric Brown of Richmond, Va., agreed to longer sentence to avoid prosecution in similar crimes, officials said

Larry O'Dell

Apr. 12, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

This just in: Obama uses a teleprompter when he gives addresses.

 

 

A career criminal who stole a truck containing President Obama's audio equipment was sentenced Thursday to seven years in federal prison.

 

Sentencing guidelines called for a term of about three years, but Eric Brown of Richmond, Va., agreed to the longer sentence to avoid prosecution for 14 similar truck thefts in three localities. However, he could still face charges in Stafford County, which did not join Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties in the agreement.

 

(Snip)

 

In response to a question from Gibney, Brown said he targeted Ford F-350s and Ford F-450s because they were easy to steal. One of those trucks happened to be a 2005 Ford owned by the Defense Information Systems Agency and assigned to the White House, which was stolen from a Henrico County hotel parking lot on Oct. 16, 2011, a few days ahead of Obama's visit to a suburban Richmond fire station to promote his jobs plan.

 

The truck had no White House markings on the exterior, but inside it was loaded with speakers, microphones, a teleprompter, a laptop computer, podiums and other items used in presidential appearances. The van was empty when it was recovered on the other side of town the next day, and some of the items were later recovered at Maryland pawn shops.

 

(Snip)

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If I were the type of person given to snaky comments I might say...Guess the Secret Service was busy....investigating the Free Lance hospitality industry. But I'm not that kind of person....so I won't.

 

 

H/T Three Martini Lunch

[clearvision]

I was thinking 7 years for stealing a teleprompter seemed harsh. Of course understanding the impact of such a theft made it seem plausible.