Hannibal auto dealer Bobby Boland believes a former employee who pleaded guilty to theft got a slap on the wrist.
Forty-year-old Jay C. Cookson of Hannibal was sentenced Wednesday to five months behind bars and five months of work release.
Cookson also was ordered to pay $64,750 in restitution.
“He ought to count his lucky stars that’s all he had to pay,” said Boland, vice president of Tom Boland Ford.
Boland said an inventory of the parts department showed about $500,000 was missing during a six-year period when Cookson was employed at the business.
Boland said Cookson deserved a heftier prison sentence and had not shown he was sorry for his actions.
“He hasn’t learned a damned thing,” Boland said.
Cookson was not available for comment Wednesday, but his attorney said the defendant was remorseful.
“He very much regrets what he did,” said the attorney, Lawrence Fleming of St. Louis.
As for Boland’s contention that the financial loss was greater than $65,000, Fleming said the amount was determined by investigators during their probe.
“That’s what the government said,” Fleming said. “That’s all they could prove.”
Cookson served as parts department manager between March 2006 and August 2008, when the theft occurred.
As part of his duties, Cookson ordered and invoiced car and truck parts used in the service department.
Court records show that in March 2006, he began to order parts paid for by Boland Ford and then re-sold them on the open market at a reduced value.
Cookson pocketed the money and even advertised the parts on Websites such as eBay.
Records show he used a PayPal account to handle the transactions, which included the sale of at least 25 car parts stolen from Boland Ford to Internet buyers across the nation.
Cookson was fired Nov. 12, 2008, after working at the dealership for 20 years. He now works at an auto glass business, Fleming said.
In the end, Boland said, the case was more about justice than money.
“We’ll close the book on it and go about our business,” he said.
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Hannibal auto dealer Bobby Boland believes a former employee who pleaded guilty to theft got a slap on the wrist.
Forty-year-old Jay C. Cookson of Hannibal was sentenced Wednesday to five months behind bars and five months of work release.
Cookson also was ordered to pay $64,750 in restitution.
“He ought to count his lucky stars that’s all he had to pay,” said Boland, vice president of Tom Boland Ford.
Boland said an inventory of the parts department showed about $500,000 was missing during a six-year period when Cookson was employed at the business.
Boland said Cookson deserved a heftier prison sentence and had not shown he was sorry for his actions.
“He hasn’t learned a damned thing,” Boland said.
Cookson was not available for comment Wednesday, but his attorney said the defendant was remorseful.
“He very much regrets what he did,” said the attorney, Lawrence Fleming of St. Louis.
As for Boland’s contention that the financial loss was greater than $65,000, Fleming said the amount was determined by investigators during their probe.
“That’s what the government said,” Fleming said. “That’s all they could prove.”
Cookson served as parts department manager between March 2006 and August 2008, when the theft occurred.
As part of his duties, Cookson ordered and invoiced car and truck parts used in the service department.
Court records show that in March 2006, he began to order parts paid for by Boland Ford and then re-sold them on the open market at a reduced value.
Cookson pocketed the money and even advertised the parts on Websites such as eBay.
Records show he used a PayPal account to handle the transactions, which included the sale of at least 25 car parts stolen from Boland Ford to Internet buyers across the nation.
Cookson was fired Nov. 12, 2008, after working at the dealership for 20 years. He now works at an auto glass business, Fleming said.
In the end, Boland said, the case was more about justice than money.
“We’ll close the book on it and go about our business,” he said.
