Ferndale carpet installer who stole ring gets 3 months
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) - A Ferndale carpet installer who stole and pawned a customer's expensive ring has been sentenced to three months in jail.
Superior Court Judge Chuck Snyder also ruled that 27-year-old Kenny Littrell must tell future customers that he needs extra supervision.
The Bellingham Herald reports that Littrell pleaded guilty last week to selling a 14-carat gold ring with a large emerald-cut diamond at a Bellingham pawn shop last July 10. That's the same day it was taken from an area home.
Court records show he got $445 cash for the ring, which was valued at nearly $8,000.
Littrell had been laying carpet at the victim's house when two rings disappeared. He later claimed he must have lost the second ring, worth $1,500.
He was convicted of first-degree trafficking in stolen property.
Superior Court Judge Chuck Snyder also ruled that 27-year-old Kenny Littrell must tell future customers that he needs extra supervision.
The Bellingham Herald reports that Littrell pleaded guilty last week to selling a 14-carat gold ring with a large emerald-cut diamond at a Bellingham pawn shop last July 10. That's the same day it was taken from an area home.
Court records show he got $445 cash for the ring, which was valued at nearly $8,000.
Littrell had been laying carpet at the victim's house when two rings disappeared. He later claimed he must have lost the second ring, worth $1,500.
He was convicted of first-degree trafficking in stolen property.
"Superior Court Judge Chuck Snyder also ruled that 27-year-old Kenny Littrell must tell future customers that he needs extra supervision."Â Â Yeah.... like that is going to happen.
Â
What I'm wondering is if he is still bondable? Personally, I think he should not be allowed to perform work in customers' homes.
Â
A guy in this same jam tried his story on me years ago. He was busted with the custom ring that he "found" by the actual artist who created it when he went to have it appraised. His story was so obviously bad and false I always wondered what happened to him.
"...which was valued at nearly $8,000." In other words, it was worth about $445. I mean, theft is theft, but since KOMO doesn't give a source for the "value," it's more than safe to assume that that figure is either bloated jewelry store hype or they just took the owner's word for it off of a police report.
 @wysoumible Pawn shops don't pay close to replacement value, and how much they pay is partly based on the credentials or trustworthiness of the seller.  Not just due to stolen goods, but e.g. was it damaged, was it zirconium.  If it had, as the article says, a "large emerald cut diamond", there's no way it was only worth $445.
Â
I applaud you for speaking your mind, but next time, turn it on first!
 @wysoumible Insurance comes to mind.
 @Maynard G Krebbs  @wysoumible Followed up by an appraisal.
I was offered $100 for my gold at a pawn shop advertising to buy gold and 10 minutes later paid $800 at a gold and coin dealer.Hello?
Pawn brokers are organized and sanctioned thievery of the worst kind.
All these crimes in Ferntuckey?
 @Hopp Ferntuckey?  Is that the Vantucky of the North?
 @UtterReality  @HoppÂ
Â
Ferndale, WA...yep, it's a place a person can get lost.
"Court records show he got $445 cash for the ring, which was valued at nearly $8,000."
Â
So why isn't the pawn shop being charged with Grand Theft for undervaluing the ring?
 @Glassman I'm guessing it would be too hard to prove that they knew it was a stolen ring. Most people that go to pawn shops probably have no record of proving the rightful owner of the item or where it originated from.Â
 @3rase  @GlassmanÂ
Well the Pawn Shop is out $445 now since stolen items are confiscated from them with no compensation. The pawn shop is considered a victim in that case and the perp has to pay them off to be considered to have taken care of all his restitution obligations.  Pawn shops normally pay about half the gold value in a ring and nothing or next to nothing for the stones. They are not a good place to sell things but the idea of a Pawn is that you still own the item and come get it back once you get the money to do so. Actually most people do redeem their items about 90% is what I am told by those I know who own pawn shops. Interest on the short term small loan is pretty bad and exceeds 100% a year. However interest rates and fees that pawn shops charge are fixed by state law. The $8,000 is what a jewelry store would ask for the ring as full retail. Typically you could get a piece of Jewelry for less then half that value by shopping around but you will not get it for less then the value of the gold and diamond at wholesale. The other ring was probably sold to a Gold buyer or traded for drugs I doubt it was lost. It would seem to be easy to prove theft but it far easier to prove the stolen property deal. 3 Months seems to be awful short but in this state you can steal a car and not spend anytime in jail but kill a cat and spend a year in jail.
 @Glassman That was similar to my line of thought, that if the pawn shop only offered about 5 percent of the ring's value, the owner or employee must have known it was stolen and (s)he had the seller by the short and curlies.Â
 @MargeGunderson  @Glassman I guess that's the "business model"Â
"trafficking"? Â What about theft? Am I missing something? 3 months for stealing goods valued 9500$? Ok, with this kind of ruling, don't expect anyone to learn anything.Â
 @Komo Dragon In a sane world this thief would be on a chain gang breaking rocks 6 days a week with re-education classes on the 7th for three YEARS.Â
Â
He MIGHT learn his lesson after that.
 @Komo Dragon Oh, they're learning alright. Just the opposite of what we want to teach them.Â
 @MargeGunderson nicely put !
 @Komo Dragon Precedent has been set by big bank C.E.O's and Oil Execs. In the NEW America, the punishment (IF there IS any) will NEVER fit the crime.