Federal judge says he’s ‘taking a chance’ on chop shop operators, gives lenient sentences

As each of the five individuals who pleaded guilty to organizing and operating a vehicle chop shop in Laurel County in 2008-09 came before him Tuesday for sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Amul Thapar advised them he was being lenient based on private information shared by their respective attorneys and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Arehart. Following that, he warned each of them that if they failed to take advantage of his generosity and had cause to come back before him on a criminal matter, he would sentence them has harshly as the law would allow.

"I’m taking a chance," Thapar said to Robyn King, who was sentenced to time served (one year) and ordered to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to attend drug counseling.

"You will be home for Christmas. If you take drugs, you won’t be home for next Christmas.
I will put you in for as long as the congress will let me," he said.

King, told the judge while she was incarcerated, she has obtained her GED and now she just wants to go home and raise her 14-year-old daughter in a good environment.

In addition to the prison term and supervised release, King must pay $3,500 in restitution to "R.C." one of the victims in the case.

H.C. McDaries told Thapar he has also turned his life around, attending church.

His attorney, Doug Benge, told the court his client had no part in the actual chop shop operation in which multiple tractor-trailer trucks were stolen, cut up and sold for parts at a profit.

"It old them it was their business and to leave me out of it," McDaries said.

Though he expressed concerns about McDaries’ criminal history, Thapar sentenced McDaries to serve six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. The first six months of the supervised release will be served on home incarceration, during which he will be on home monitoring and may only go to work, church and other places with the prior approval of probation and parole officials.

"You need to tell people not to call you anymore about this stuff," Thapar said in warning that any further legal trouble will lead to much harsher penalties.

"I won’t be back," McDaries responded."

During his sentencing, Ricky McDaries’s attorney, James Hodge, told the court investigators found the sleeper from a 2000 Peterbilt truck on his property. When asked about it, Ricky McDaries told investigators he got the sleeper from co-defendant, Sam Gilbert.

Hodge said there is no evidence his client was actively involved in chopping up the truck. But Thapar said he is still guilty because he was moving the stolen parts.

He noted Ricky McDaries’ lack of a criminal history, but denied Hodge’s request for a probated prison sentence.
Ricky McDaries said nothing before Thapar sentenced him to six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He too must serve the first six months on home incarceration.

Though Thapar acknowledge Sam Gilbert was facing the most significant penalty among the defendants as he was one of the major forces behind the operation, following an lengthy conference at the bench with Arehart and Gilbert’s attorney, Jason Kincer, he agreed to reduce the prison sentence to the same as the McDaries, six months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release with the first six months to be served on home incarceration.

In addition, he must make restitution totaling $124,200 to a victim identified as "T.B.", G&G Trucking and Northland Insurance.
The final defendant, Larry Neal, on whose property in Hancock County, Tenn., investigators found a white 2005 Peterbilt truck that had been stripped down to the frame and axel, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In addition , he must pay $5,000 in restitution to victim "C.S." and $51,658.64 to Progressive Insurance.
Thapar noted while Neal has no criminal history, investigators found unspecified drugs on his property for which he is facing charges.

"If he had chosen a different path, he would have been a productive member of society," Thapar said of Neal in response to a number of letters written on his behalf by members of his community.
 

According to the indictment, the men organized and operated the chop shop between Aug. 1, 2008 and May 14, 2009. It was located in a barn belonging to Gilbert located behind his house in the Laurel County portion of Corbin.