Jewelry thief sentenced - Hometownstations.com-WLIO- Lima, OH News Weather Sports

Throughout the summer of 2011 several elderly women had jewelry and family heirlooms taken. The man convicted in the crime had his day in court as sentencing was handed down for a crime spree worth nearly $60,000. Paul Reynolds sat in front of judge Richard Warren as Assistant Allen County Prosecutor Terri Kohlrieser talked about the crimes. All victims were over the age of 60 and one was 95 years old. Kohlrieser said "they have lost all sense of comfort in their homes, security in their homes. If you read in the statements there are a number of references to the fact that they moved to the Carlton house because they thought it was a safe place to be."

Reynolds worked for the Carlton House and had access to the condo units. Kohlrieser says he used that position of trust to gain access. "It's not a matter of 'oh you took a gold necklace oh you too a silver ring.' One of these belonged to her great grandmother and was engraved with her wedding date of 1899. These are family heirlooms, precious items" said Kohlrieser.

According to court statements the items were taken to Dunkins Diamonds in exchange for cash by others close to Reynolds. Defense attorney, Jerry Pitts, said "his father as well as another female were the ones who were taking these items to dunk ins jewelry." Reynolds said "I'd like to apologize to the victims. I should have never took advantage of their kindness and weakness. I regret everything I've done, I wish I could turn back the hands of time."

Reynolds was sentenced to four years in jail. According to the Allen County Prosecutors Office there are steps taken by shops to prevent the resale of stolen items. Allen County Prosecutor, Juergon Waldick, said "in my experience when dealing with people that buy, either a pawn shop or jewelry places, they will get identification, get their drivers license, sometimes they get finger prints depending on who it is." Residents should be proactive in documenting their possessions. "We take the three C's. The cut, the clarity, and the caret count and we put a description in then we charge you for the amount of the appraisal amount that you insure it for and that way you get your money back to replace it." said Sam McLean of McLean Allstate insurance agency. McLean went on to say that pictures and video could be used to help in the recovery of items and to make sure to store that data at a secure location besides your own home.