The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A TEENAGER who stole a man’s laptop and then sold it to another man was sentenced to two months in prison.

Police arrested John Etienne, 19, after he broke into a man’s car and stole his $1,200 MacBook Pro and $215 terabyte external hard drive on January 5.

He was arraigned with Reynaldo Johnson, 28, who was charged with dishonestly receiving the stolen laptop.

Both men admitted to the offences during a hearing before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes.

The court was told that the complainant had told police that an unknown person had broken into his vehicle to steal his electronics. An investigation into the matter led to Etienne’s arrest. When he was questioned in custody, he owned up to the theft and took police to the residence of the man to whom he had sold the laptop.

After Johnson was arrested, he told police he had purchased the device from Etienne, but was not aware that it had been stolen. Both men were subsequently charged. The prosecution said the laptop was also returned to its rightful owner.

During the hearing, Johnson maintained his original explanation and told the magistrate he would never have bought the laptop if he had known it had been stolen. As a result, he was fined $500 or two months in prison.

Etienne, on the other hand, said he did not have anything to say when he was given a chance to speak. However, when questioned, he said he had thrown the complainant’s external hard drive in the garbage after he had stolen his laptop that day.

In response, Magistrate Forbes noted the complainant was greatly disenfranchised as his hard drive probably contained valuable information that would be hard to recover or replace. He also said he considered the fact that Etienne did not appear remorseful for his actions. As a result, he sentenced the teenager to two months behind bars.