Now facing 40 counts of “desecration or sale of venerated objects,” the Meadville man charged with allegedly selling approximately 100 brass markers stolen from veterans’ graves as scrap metal waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday before Meadville Area Magisterial Judge William Chisholm.
Pennsylvania State Police at Meadville allege Raymond J. Ebbert, 45, of 1108 S. Main St., took a total of 584 pounds of brass along with other recyclables to AIM Recycling, West Mead Industrial Park, on Nov. 30 last year. Ebbert was reportedly initially paid a total of $730 — $1.25 per pound — for the brass.
The new list of counts presented on Wednesday means that, if convicted and given the maximum sentence on all counts, Ebbert would be facing almost 90 years behind bars and more than $200,000 in fines.
Ebbert was arrested Jan. 8 and arraigned on three counts of receiving stolen property and only one count of desecration or sale of venerated objects. But a Jan. 25 preliminary hearing before Chisholm was continued until Wednesday to allow Assistant District Attorney Chris Mitchell to amend the charges. At the first hearing, Mitchell suggested he would seek as many as 100 counts for desecration/sale, representing the large number of graves affected.
The extra charges required the listing of court documents for each separate offense, however, and the hearing was postponed.
Ebbert’s arrest came about because of the watchful efforts of personnel at the recycling plant. After Ebbert left the scrap facility in November, an AIM manager reportedly examined the box containing the recyclables and contacted state police after finding it contained veterans’ markers that had been cut into several hundred pieces.
Police reported that upon further investigation, the brass markers were identified as being from the gravesites of veterans who served in various wars throughout the country’s history, as well as from some of the Meadville area’s earliest firefighting companies. When several markers from S.B. Dick Hose Company with names molded into the back of each marker were successfully pieced together, those markers were traced back to Greendale Cemetery.
Wednesday, Ebbert waived his right to a preliminary hearing on one third-class felony charge of receiving stolen property, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in jail and a $15,000 fine, and 40 counts of desecration or sale of venerated objects. Each of the 40 counts, a second-class misdemeanor, carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Ebbert continues to be free on $100,000 bail.
Mary Spicer can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at mspicer@meadvilletribune.com.
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