Dive Brief:
- A Huntington, WV scrap metal company and its owner are charged with 202 counts related to allegedly buying more than 74,000 pounds of stolen copper and nickel worth $325,825. The alleged buys happened from September 2012 through February 2015. Cabell Circuit Judge Paul T. Farrell set a $250,000 bond.
- West End Recycling and its owner William Smith are charged with the crimes. Investigators have searched the company which has hampered its operations, defense attorney Paul Biser complained, noting that police seized $47,000 in metal that Smith bought from a different company.
- "Your honor, they’re doing everything they can to shut him down," Biser told the court in arguing against the bond, according to the Huntington Herald-Dispatch.
Dive Insight:
The indictment against West End Recycling and Smith includes one charge of conspiracy, one count of engaging in an organized criminal enterprise, and 200 counts of receiving stolen scrap metal. Prosecuting such cases is important, in order to discourage the theft and resale of metals.