10/07/2008

Associated Press

A 32-year-old Bremerton, Wash., man has been sentenced to 27 months in prison after amassing at least $750,000 worth of stolen machinery and other property.

Paul Bickle pleaded guilty to second-degree possession of stolen property in an agreement with prosecutors. According to court documents, he got a shorter sentence Monday in Superior Court in Port Orchard in exchange for leading investigators to the places he stored the equipment.

Bickle came to the attention of law enforcement in July after he took a truck equipped with a GPS tracking device from a Seattle moving company. Police say the device mapped his trip to Thompson Drive in Bremerton, where he lived in a stolen trailer.

With Bickle's cooperation, detectives with Bremerton police, the Kitsap County sheriff's office and the Washington State Patrol tracked down trucks, excavators, and construction tools and equipment in Kitsap and Mason counties.

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Information from: Kitsap Sun, http://www.kitsapsun.com/