CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) - A man accused by authorities of swapping the barcodes between two items at a Walmart in Virginia has been sentenced to five years in prison with all but one day suspended.
Prosecutors accused Andrew Zachary Ray of changing the barcodes between the items so that a blanket that should have cost $44.96 rang up as $13.46, the Roanoke Times reported Sunday. When he was arrested in August, a convoy of police vehicles, including a mobile command center, responded to his home in Catawba.
Judge Mike Fleenor sentenced Ray Thursday in Montgomery County after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of larceny third or subsequent offense. Fleenor also ordered Ray to pay restitution to Walmart and be on supervised release.
According to Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Erin Little’s summary of the prosecution’s case, authorities located in the Christiansburg Walmart the less expensive item with its barcode torn off. They used security video to identify Ray and later found the blanket in his bedroom.
The newspaper reported Ray is scheduled to go on trial in February in Roanoke County where he is charged with being a violent felon in possession of a firearm.
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