Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Renehan Sentenced

Whoops, almost let one of our theft cases slip by!

Edward Renehan, who pleaded guilty in May to the theft of several letters from the Theodore Roosevelt Association, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin also tacked on "two years of supervised release, ordered him to pay $86,700 in restitution to the Manhattan gallery through which he sold the letters, and ordered that he forfeit $86,700 and any rights or interest he may have had in the stolen letters to the United States."

Chin observed before handing down the sentence that a prison term was "warranted in part because Renehan held a position of trust with the Theodore Roosevelt Association" (he was the interim executive director when the thefts occurred).

Renehan faced up to 30 months in jail; his attorneys had requested no jail time and a sentence of probation. Sentencing on state charges filed against Renehan for another theft was supposed to occur yesterday; I haven't seen reports on how that worked out, but the state judge had indicated that the federal and state sentences would run concurrently, so 18 months is probably it. Not bad, considering the alternative.

[Update: I'm informed Renehan's state sentencing has been postponed until 15 October].