(The following report by Bob Gardinier appeared on the Albany Times Union on August 22.)
TROY, N.Y. — The head of a crime ring that stole tons of copper wire from National Grid substations and CSX rail yards in three counties will spend up to 14 years in prison after admitting to one of the thefts today in Rensselaer County Court.
Jeremy Roberts, 23, of Averill Park, pleaded guilty to the top count on his indictment, third-degree grand larceny, for a theft that occurred in Brunswick last year.
He was sentenced to 1-3 years in prison, which will run consecutively to a sentence of up to 11 years he received in June in Albany County Court after pleading guilty there to criminal mischief and grand larceny.
Roberts was arrested in December as he cut wire from a spool at the National Grid substation in Menands. Investigators said he was the ringleader of a crew that broke into substations last year in Menands, Warrensburg and Brunswick, cut up the copper wire and loaded it into a truck. Police said the thieves would then go to a mountain top in Berlin, where they would burn off the rubber coating. The wire would then be sold at scrap yards, police said.
Four other suspects were arrested in March and their cases are pending.
The men made at least $100,000 from the scrap metal, a security manager for the company has said.