20 Car Thieves Sentenced

A federal judge has handed sentences ranging from probation to nine years in prison to 20 people convicted of taking part in a stolen car ring operating out of Savannah and Statesboro. U.S. Attorney Edmund A. Booth Jr. said Tuesday that dozens of vehicles worth a total of more than $1 million were stolen and sold to co-conspirators at steep discounts, with altered vehicle identification numbers and counterfeit titles. Booth says U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr., at sentencing hearings in May and June, also ordered defendants to pay restitution amounts of up to $426,000. Booth's office says 41-year-old Jimmy Lee Everett of Brooklet, convicted of trafficking in vehicles with altered VIN, received the stiffest sentence: nine years in prison and $332,000 in restitution.

(Associated Press)

Boat thefts on rise

Boat thefts are up in GA. Crime statistics show that Georgia has been ranked as one of the top five states for boat thefts since 2004, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Rankings based on 2007 data place Georgia at the top of the list. In response, the Georgia DNR formed a Macon-based, one-person marine theft unit in July to investigate the thefts and help educate boaters.

Georgia car theft capital

A new insurance industry survey says car thefts went down statewide in 2007 -- except in one Georgia city. The latest statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau say Columbus tops the state in per-capita auto theft.

The survey says that 1,757 vehicles were heisted in 2007, beating out Atlanta and Augusta, who scored second and third place, respectively.

Columbus car dealerships say thieves focus on vehicles over a decade old, because they're easier to hotwire, and offer a fast, no-questions-asked junkyard sale.

As well, anti-theft gear and on-board GPS tracking systems on newer vehicles, make them a tougher target for thieves.