SPARTANBURG MAN RECEIVES 60-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR COPPER THEFTS

A Spartanburg man received a 60-year prison sentence today after he pleaded guilty to 106 criminal charges connected to the theft of copper.

Jackie Anderson Jr., 27, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of second-degree burglary, grand larceny, malicious injury to real property and petty larceny before Circuit Judge Roger Couch.

Anderson was one of eight people arrested in the Spartanburg Public Safety Department’s “Operation Copperstopper.” Over a three-year period that ended in 2008, the group took copper from residents and rental property on the north and west sides of the city and sold it to recyclers and scrap metal businesses. The collective weight of the stolen property was valued at more than a ton and the property loss tops $184,000.

“This sentence sends a message about the seriousness of copper theft in our community,” Principal Deputy Solicitor Barry Barnette said. “Mr. Anderson will like spend the rest of his life behind bars for this crime spree.”

For more information, contact Murray Glenn at 809-4892.