March 26, 2008

Further Information Contact:
Deanna Warren
Phone: (757) 441-6331

Suffolk Man and Four Others Plead Guilty Malicious Destruction of Communication Lines and Systems

(Norfolk, VA) - Keith Arlan Pickens, age 32, of Suffolk, Virginia, pled guilty today to charges of conspiracy and malicious destruction of communication lines and systems. Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and Alex J. Turner, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after United States District Judge Raymond A. Jackson accepted his guilty plea. Pickens is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23, 2008.

All the co-defendants in this case have previously pled guilty to the charge of malicious destruction of communication lines and systems and are awaiting sentencing. Heather Maureen Yerigan, age 27, of Suffolk, Virginia, also pled guilty to conspiracy on March 11, 2008, and will be sentenced on June 4, 2008. Dale C. Merrill, age 36, of Chesapeake, Virginia pled guilty yesterday and will be sentenced on June 25, 2008. Marinabernadett E. Long, age 34, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, pled guilty on March 24, 2008, and will be sentenced on June 25, 2008. Sarah Jo Carr, age 25, of Suffolk, Virginia, pled guilty on March 11, 2008, and will be sentenced on June 4, 2008. They each face a maximum of 10 years for malicious destruction of communication lines and systems. In addition, Pickens and Yerigan face a maximum of 5 years in prison for the conspiracy charge.

According to court documents, from January of 2007 through July of 2007, the defendants stole copper grounding bars and copper wiring from cellular telephone towers and thereafter sold the stolen copper to local salvage dealers. The defendants entered over 130 cellular tower sites located in 17 different jurisdictions in the Eastern District of Virginia and eastern North Carolina. Upon entering onto the tower sites, they forcibly removed the copper grounding bars and copper wiring, thereby injuring the tower sites and telephone equipment, and potentially impairing cellular communications systems in the affected areas. The damage to the cellular equipment is estimated to be approximately $270,000.

The investigation of this case was handled by the Norfolk Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of law enforcement from Chesapeake, Hampton, Isle of Wight County, James City County, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Southampton County, Suffolk, Surry County, Sussex County, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, and York County, Virginia, and Camden and Currituck, North Carolina. Assistant United States Attorney Steve Haynie prosecuted the case for the United States.