Library book bandit gets 10 years in prison
Rocky Mountain News
Published July 8, 2008 at 11:06 p.m.
Updated July 9, 2008 at 6:16 a.m.
Thomas Pilaar
A book bandit who checked out hundreds of books and DVDs from area libraries and then sold them online will be going to prison.
Thomas Pilaar, 34, was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $53,549 in restitution. He pleaded guilty to theft in May.
Last August, Pilaar was arrested on an unrelated probation violation, after the Denver Public Library's security unit began investigating him.
Pilaar was accused of using his own and other people's library cards from Denver, Douglas County, Aurora and Littleton to check out books and DVDs, which he later sold on Craigslist.
About 1,400 books and DVDs were taken by Pilaar, of which only 500 items were recovered. The restitution covers the amount of losses suffered by all the victimized libraries.
Denver Public Library last year estimated its losses at $35,000, while Douglas County reported that Pilaar had $11,000 worth of overdue materials, mostly pricey coffee-table books and DVDs.
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July 9, 2008
6:25 a.m.
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happymike44 writes:
Well looks like he will have plenty of time for reading in the big house.
The other prisoners when they hear what he was convicted of will laugh their a$$ off over this one.
What a freaking moron hope he enjoys his new roommates in the big house.
Well I am lmao at this idiot proof that cousins do marry each other.
July 9, 2008
6:56 a.m.
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HoosierGuy writes:
10 years for library books.
July 9, 2008
7:04 a.m.
BroncoRick69 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
July 9, 2008
8:10 a.m.
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davies writes:
I see the guy used more than one library card to do this, but seriously, shouldn't the Denver Public Library be able to detect some pattern of unreturned materials before the guy got to $35,000 worth?
Anyway, here's an example of the proverbial 'non-violent' offender who goes to prison. You can make political points by making it sound trivial, saying he's doing time for not returning his library books. Or you can look into the facts of the case, see that he was already on probation, and that he continued to engage in criminal thefts over an extended period of time.
He probably could have held down a decent job, if he had put the same amount of effort into it as he apparently did for this scam.
July 9, 2008
8:21 a.m.
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more_cowbell writes:
10 years! You gotta be kidding me!
July 9, 2008
9:28 a.m.
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fiesty writes:
10 years? The drunk driver that killed a co-worker only got 4!!! We need some kind of consistency in sentencing!
July 9, 2008
9:29 a.m.
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Scott writes:
The length of the sentence is totally asinine. In another article, http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news... , a violent sex offender only got 18 months for "flashing"! Note that the judge in the flasher case wanted to give that democrat more time, but couldn't do to sentencing rules. Note: once again RMN has the headline screwed up on the story.
So in the library case it looks like the People's prostitute (DA) and the pimp (judge) are trying to make a name for themselves. They sure did. Another example of what type of excrement the legal racket draws.
O.K. lawyer lovers. Tell me why I'm so wrong about these members of the Colorado Brothel Association. Also note that in the case of the sex offender I referred to the judge in a respectful manner. At least Judge Oeffler appears to be human.
Scott
July 9, 2008
10:35 a.m.
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nanbede writes:
i have to agree with the others: 10 years for stealing library books and selling them online? This doesn't make sense when child molesters, sexual predators and other violent crimes pull less time.
July 9, 2008
10:51 a.m.
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RBN writes:
Yikes, wasn't this an episode of Seinfeld? 10 years, maybe he has priors that led to the long sentence. I mean if he is a habitual offeneder maybe he should be in the clink before he can do anything too serious.
July 9, 2008
11 a.m.
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Harvey76 writes:
There is no mention of what the probation violation was for. The guy stole $53,000 worth of property and violated his probation from some other crime. We don't anything about his criminal history, but 10 years might not be unreasonable when you factor in his past.
July 9, 2008
11:08 a.m.
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steel writes:
They threw the book at him.
July 9, 2008
11:40 a.m.
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AC writes:
Obviously, this criminal Republican thief got 10 years because of the prior conviction. This is not only because of the library theft.
July 9, 2008
12:41 p.m.
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Marshdale writes:
Prisons have large libraries don't they?
July 9, 2008
1:08 p.m.
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davies writes:
Maybe he stole 'The Audacity of Hope', and the judge had to make an example of him so no one else would have the audacity to hope they could get away with such a heinous crime.
July 9, 2008
2:27 p.m.
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surferon writes:
LMAO @ steel!!!
July 9, 2008
2:54 p.m.
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EdVMorales writes:
WOW! This dude got 10 years for stealing books and the dude up north got NOTHING. And he was a COP. Go figure.
July 9, 2008
3:19 p.m.
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7_ogNiOj writes:
This is just publicly subsidized private entrepreneurship, i.e. good ol' American capitalism. I don't see how he was convicted at all.
July 9, 2008
10:26 p.m.
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redwhiteandBLUE writes:
10 yrs ?And.. How's he supposed to pay restitution ? How much do they pay in prison per day now ? He'll never get $54,000 pd not in this lifetime,
If he had that kind of money he wouldn't be selling books..