| Eric Brown |
A man was arrested, charged and convicted of theft related charges after stealing the teleprompter of President Obama, according to court proceedings in Virginia.
The teleprompter of President Obama may be more valuable than even his biggest detractors claim. After all, the man who stole Obama's teleprompter was sentenced to seven years in federal prison.
"The theft of government property is a serious crime," Assistant U.S. Attorney Roderick Young told the court during the sentencing hearing of Virginia resident Eric Brown. "The theft is even more serious when the object belongs to the Communications Agency of the White House," Young also said.
Brown, 49, agreed to plead guilty and receive the long sentence in order to avoid being prosecuted for 14 other thefts of trucks. Virginia Sentencing Guidelines calls for a prison sentence of 3 years for stealing government property.
In the past 30 years, Brown has been convicted of 36 offenses.
"If I had to sum up the character of Brown, would be that he is a thief," Judge John A. Gibney told the court.
However, defense attorney David Lett said that the prison sentence will allow his client to start a new page.
“That is exactly what happens to someone who steals property of the U.S. government. If the government would prosecute all those who steal maybe the crime rate will decrease,” Gregory Lozano, 38, of Richmond, Virginia told YourJewishNews.com after learning about the sentence.
Brown claimed he did not know that the black Ford truck he stole was owned and operated by the White House.