Thieves who raided foreclosed homes sentenced

Two South Side brothers have each been sentenced to prison for 10 years for entering dozens of foreclosed houses in Franklin and surrounding counties and stealing property to sell for scrap.

Michael J. Nibert Jr., 32, and Walter T. Littler, 42, both pleaded guilty in September to one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activities, a racketeering charge, and seven counts of burglary.

The brothers, formerly of the 1200 block of Gilbert Street, were sentenced in Franklin County Common Pleas Court by Judge Kimberly Cocroft — Nibert on Thursday and Littler in November.

They were linked to 35 break-ins between Sept. 29, 2011 and June 17, 2014, in which copper pipes, copper line sets, heat-pump evaporators and furnace coils were among the items taken. The property loss topped $100,000, Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said at the time of the indictments.

Most of the thefts were committed in Franklin County, but some occurred in Fairfield, Delaware and Union counties.

Littler had keys for the houses from a former job with a company that winterizes foreclosed properties, Assistant Prosecutor Jay Moore said.

From January to June of 2014 alone, the brothers took about 38,000 pounds of the stolen scrap to a dealer and were paid more than $65,000, he said.

Columbus police eventually placed the duo under surveillance and tracked them by planting a GPS device on Nibert’s truck.