Uniontown man found guilty of sheet metal theft
A Uniontown man was found guilty of conspiring with co-workers to steal over $600,000 worth of sheet metal in Fayette County Court on Wednesday.
Robert Showman, 36, was convicted of theft by unlawful taking and conspiracy for his role in absconding with rolls of sheet metal from his employer, Hranec Incorporated in German Township, over a two-year period and selling it as scrap metal to another company.
Police alleged that the four men stole 88.6 tons of stainless steel from Hranec Inc., a heating and air conditioning manufacturer, and then sold it as scrap to Metalico in Brownsville.
Records from Metalico show that they were paid about $130,000 for the steel, which was valued at $599,000, police said.
The complaint said warehouse supervisor Timothy Smouse, 28, of Uniontown, ordered the steel, Kenny Keener, 32, of Ruffsdale, and Timmothy Devince, 28, of Uniontown, sold it, and Showman was responsible for managing Hranec’s inventory so the company would not know the steel was missing.
Keener, Devince and Smouse each faced the same theft by unlawful taking and conspiracy charges as Showman.
Keener pleaded guilty in October 2013, and was sentenced to 1 to 2 years in jail in January.
Devince pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 23 months intermediate punishment, with the first 11 ½ months served on electronic monitor in November 2013.
Smouse also pleaded guilty to both charges and was sentenced to 23 months intermediate punishment.
Assistant District Attorney Doug Sepic, who prosecuted the case, said, “The defendant was one of the first employees of the Hranec Corp, and in 13 years, he moved his way up to second in command of the company. This conspiracy to steal almost $600,000 of metal from Hranec nearly devestated this company financially, jeopardized the jobs of the other employees and was an immense breach of the trust that the owners had placed in the defendant.”
Showman’s will be sentenced at a later date.