A 35-year-old man has been convicted for his role in the theft of a package from a Berclair-area resident’s porch that contained more than $21,000 worth of designer clothing, jewelry and other accessories. The Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich announced the conviction on Monday.
Although he was not the actual porch pirate, a Criminal Court jury convicted James Bennett of theft of property over $10,000 following a trial last week.
Investigators said the package was stolen shortly after delivery on Oct. 24, 2016, by an unidentified suspect who was captured on home security video.
The following day, investigators noticed that items from the stolen package were being advertised for sale online by a person identifying himself as “The Man.” The phone number included on the ad belonged to Bennett and a woman named Angela Stagner.
Armed with a search warrant, investigators went to the couple’s Bowen Avenue apartment in Memphis and recovered items from the package that was stolen.
Stagner, 32, pled guilty last year to theft of property over $10,000 and was given a five-year suspended sentence that was later revoked when she picked up a new charge.
Bennett is scheduled to be sentenced next month. He faces up to 10 years in prison because of prior felony convictions.
The case was handled by Asst. Dist. Atty. Matt McLeod.
