Urn thief gets extra year in Lunenburg


Clint Anthony Reamey, 43, of Chase City will serve an additional year in prison after being convicted in Lunenburg Circuit Court of selling 162 bronze urns that he stole from Crestview Memorial Park in South Hill.

Reamey, who was previously found guilty of stealing the urns in April and May of 2012, sold them to ABC Recycling in Kenbridge.

In December, Mecklenburg Circuit Judge Leslie M. Osborn sentenced Reamey to 10 years of active jail time for the theft of the vases. His Lunenburg felony convictions were on two counts of obtaining money by false pretenses for $2,241.90 paid to him by ABC for nearly 1,126 pounds of bronze in the form of metal urns.

Lunenburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Clement praised ABC Recycling staff for recognizing the probability that the vases were stolen and saving them for investigators rather than immediately crushing them. Reamey had told the staff that he purchased the vases at an auction.

It was estimated that the vases weigh between five and eight pounds each and cost new about $500 apiece.

Clement said Reamey was given an additional 19 years in prison, suspended in Lunenburg on conditions including good behavior, and supervised probation upon completion of his active 10-year sentence. He must make restitution of $2,975 in Meckenburg to the owners of the damaged vases and $2,241.90 in Lunenburg to ABC to compensate the company for the money it paid him. He also must stay out of Lunenburg County for ten years upon his release.

Before the theft of the urns from Crestview Memorial, Reamey had five prior grand larceny convictions in Mecklenburg County in 2009, most involving churches and businesses. He was sentenced for those convictions to 26 years with all but four months in jail suspended. He was ordered to be on supervised probation for three years, banned from the churches and businesses that were victimized, and ordered to pay $34,000 in restitution to his victims.

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