Man guilty in theft of catalytic converters
An Athens County man pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Columbus in connection with the theft of catalytic converters and other parts from U.S. Forest Service vehicles.
Tyler Ball, 25, of the Plains, admitted in a plea arrangement to a single count of receiving stolen property, with a possible prison sentence of up to 10 years. He appeared before U.S. District Judge Sarah D. Morrison via video conferencing because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Catalytic converters can be sold as scrap for hundreds of dollars and have been a target of theft for years for their precious metal value. Columbus police are among those nationwide who have reported a surge in converter thefts this year.
According to court documents, Ball and two other men arrived at a parking and storage area at the Wayne National Forest headquarters in Nelsonville just after midnight one day in early April.
The three were spotted in video surveillance footage cutting through two sections of fencing. While on the premises, the men cut “catalytic converters and other exhaust and emissions parts” from two U.S. Forest Service pickup trucks and damaged another, according to documents. A toolbox was also taken.
The theft caused about $9,000 in damage to the vehicles and the fence, according to court documents.
A final sentence for Ball will be determined in coming months. mkovac@dispatch.com @Ohiocapitalblog