Bath Township [cell tower] copper thieves plead guilty

Well, maybe this can help explain why my Verizon service around town is so slow and so full of static!

Bath Township copper thieves plead guilty | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com

Written by
KEN PALMER
BATH TWP. - Two people charged in a copper theft ring that allegedly targeted cell towers across southern Michigan have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a Bath Township incident.

Eric Dubie, 32, of Linden, faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to malicious destruction of utility property and larceny in a building.

Jenna Lynn Cook, 20, of Lansing, pled guilty to attempted larceny in a building, a maximum two-year offense.

They are scheduled to be sentenced March 21 by 29th Circuit Judge Michelle M. Rick.

Cases against two other defendants are still pending.

Bath Township police identified the four suspects after copper was reported stolen from a Verizon cell tower on Nichols Road in late November. A detective confronted three of the suspects when they returned to a Shiawassee County scrap yard with 240 pounds of stolen copper.

The suspects have been linked to numerous similar incidents at tower sites around the greater Lansing area and across southern Michigan and could yet face charges in other counties, township police said.

The four originally faced two conspiracy charges, including conspiracy to commit larceny over $20,000. The charges against Dubie and Cook were reduced in a plea bargain. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss an habitual offender count against Dubie, who is on probation for a check fraud conviction in Genesee County.

While entering his pleas on Feb. 22, Dubie told Rick that he conspired with the other defendants to steal copper from the Nichols Road tower. One of his co-defendants used a security code to open the gates at the tower, he said.

The two other defendants - Jason Thompson, 26, and Lindsay Hetrick, 25, both of Owosso - also have been offered plea bargains, Assistant Clinton County Prosecutor Kevin Hayes said.