One of five people involved in a plot to use U-Hauls to steal clothes from a local store has been sentenced to probation.
Natasha A. Leonard, 31, was among five Columbia residents arrested in September for a theft at Hibbett Sports in Fulton. In June, she pleaded guilty to stealing. On Monday, Judge Hasbrouck Jacobs sentenced her to five years in prison, suspending the sentence and putting her on five years of supervised probation.
At 4:29 p.m. Sept. 17, Fulton Police Department officers were called to Hibbett Sports in Fulton for a theft in progress. Witnesses told police several individuals had grabbed armloads of clothing and fled the property in two U-Haul trucks.
With the help of the Missouri Highway Patrol and the Callaway County Sheriff's Department, the Fulton police managed to locate and stop the two trucks near the intersection of U.S. 54 East and County Road 114. Clothing items attached to hangars were visible between the seats in one vehicle, Sgt. Joe Schramm said.
"Leonard admitted to entering Hibbett Sports and grabbing multiple clothing items and running out," Schramm said in the probable cause statement. "(She) stated that she ran towards the U-Haul truck, got into the passenger seat with her arms full of stolen clothing and told the driver Javion Ellis to go."
The 41 stolen clothing items were valued at $1,872.
Leonard has previously been convicted of stealing in several other cities, including Macon and Columbia.
Other alleged accomplices include Jamal Jackson, 20; Talicia Fletcher, 23; Taejour Hill, 17; and Ellis, 21. Ellis and Fletcher have each pleaded guilty and are serving five years of probation. Hill pleaded guilty, failed to appear in court for sentencing in January and has not yet been sentenced, according to Missouri CaseNet. A trial is pending for Jackson.
The Fulton Hibbett Sports has since closed.