Thursday, June 23, 2011

Vanceburg Man Admits Stealing and Reselling Heavy Equipment

ASHLAND, KY—A Lewis County man admitted in federal court yesterday that he stole pieces of heavy equipment from multiple states worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and resold them for profit.

Steven Savage, 38, pleaded guilty to transporting stolen vehicles in interstate commerce.

In the course of his plea, Savage acknowledged that he stole at least 23 pieces of heavy equipment such as trailers and bull dozers from West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky and transported them to Lewis County. The property Savage stole was valued at $829,103.56.

The value of one piece of property will be determined at sentencing and added to the amount.

Savage waived his right to be indicted by a federal grand jury and pleaded guilty to the charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Kerry B. Harvey, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Michael A. Rodriguez, Special Agent in Charge, Pittsford, Pennsylvania Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly made the announcement today after Savage entered his guilty plea.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kentucky State Police and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant United States Attorney Laura K. Voorhees.

Savage is currently scheduled to appear for sentencing before United States District Court Judge David L. Bunning in Ashland, Ky. on September 12, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. Savage faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of sentences.

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