Larceny Conviction Could Mean Jail Time
Bay City Commissioner Chad A. Sibley is in trouble. But unlike so many other politicians in the spotlight these days, he isn’t in trouble for stealing money, driving drunk or sleeping with someone else’s wife. What makes this case different is the fact that Sibley is in trouble for doing what he thought was actually helping to make his neighborhood a better place. He has been found guilty of misdemeanor larceny charges which could put him behind bars for several months.
Sibley’s neighbor, who owned the house beside his on Litchfield St, had her utilities shut off with regularity. As a result, the house developed a problem with mold. And so she finally decided that she no longer wanted the house. She moved out at the beginning of 2015, and left a lot of items on the property.
Some months later, when the grass had grown wild around the home and the property was beginning to look unkempt and neglected, Sibley decided to do everyone on the block a favor. He would clean up the abandoned home a little, make it look nicer. He called the county to find out if the home was already foreclosed on, and was told that it had been.
And so he went to work. He dragged a number of items to the curb where pickers could carry them away, and began to clean up the yard. He cut down trees, removed a fence that was falling down, and dealt with a few sanitation issues, like an old toilet that had sat on the porch for more than a year.
But when the home’s former owner, Jeana L. Wolcott, returned in early April to retrieve her lawn mower, her grill, and a couple of other items she had left at the house, she found them all missing. Further investigation revealed that Sibley had put them on the curb when he was cleaning up the property.
The pair ended up in court, battling this out in order to figure out whether Sibley intentionally deprived Walcott of her property, or the mistake was an honest one. Sibley is insistent that he thought the items were old and abandoned, while Walcott is certain that they were new and that he stole them from her.
A six person jury took only about an hour to deliberate, finding Sibley guilty of larceny less than $200. Under Michigan law, this is punishable by up to 93 days in jail, with a possible fine of $500, or three times the value of the stolen property. County District Judge Timothy J. Kelly is scheduled to sentence Sibley on Tuesday, October 13th at 8:30 am.
Several people have already stated that they don’t imagine that Sibley will serve time behind bars, but rather will be fined and placed on probation. Sibley has been a City Commissioner for Bay City since 2011, and is currently pursuing re-election.