Suspected leaders of computer heist ring get new March date
Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News
Detroit— A hearing Thursday for three alleged leaders of a group accused of stealing and reselling computers from Detroit Public Schools was postponed.
A preliminary examination of evidence against Brian Rogers, 20; Dwaine Scott, 19; and Mark Scott, 18, will now happen March 14, because a defense lawyer said he had a scheduling conflict.
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The three were accused in September by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and DPS Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb of being gang members who broke into schools to take 104 laptop computers valued at almost $160,000. They face 20-year felony charges of conducting a criminal enterprise.
Through tracking devices, the stolen machines were found as far away as the Middle East, with people who bought them through eBay and Craigslist.
Seven others were charged as middlemen in the sale of the computers. Most pleaded guilty to lesser charges in deals to testify against the alleged leaders.
Those defendants included Michigan State University football player Dion Sims, who was given a probationary sentence that may someday allow him to clear his record and return to playing college football.
The Prosecutor’s Office this week appealed a judge’s dismissal of charges against Gwendolyn Miller, an ex-DPS principal accused of using school funds for a new furnace in her home.
Worthy and Bobb announced the charges against Miller at an August news conference.
Charges of embezzling about $1,400 against Miller were dismissed by Wayne Circuit Judge Michael Callahan because he determined Miller had been improperly bound over for trial by a 36th District Court judge.
Miller was charged at the same time as her school’s former bookkeeper, Eugenia Holimon. Holimon, her son Eric Cornelius Holimon and her boyfriend and former police officer Robert Louis Gibson are accused of embezzling more than $150,000. They are set for trial in April.
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Article source: http://detnews.com/article/20110114/SCHOOLS/101140371/1006/rss01
Category: Laptop Security