SUNBURY - The sentencing of a Shamokin salvage yard owner convicted in February of a felony offense of theft of movable property has been continued for two weeks because his attorney had to attend a funeral Monday.
Alfons Keefer's sentencing, which was scheduled for Monday morning before Northumberland County Judge Charles Saylor, will now be held at 1:15 p.m. May 14.
Saylor granted a continuance in the case Friday afternoon at the request of Keefer's attorney, Timothy Bowers, who needed to attend a funeral Monday for the grandmother of attorney Kymberley Best, Bowers' close friend who is assisting him in the Keefer case.
Keefer was convicted Feb. 13 by a jury of a felony offense of theft of movable property and a misdemeanor of obstructing administration of the law. He was found not guilty of a misdemeanor of deceptive business practices, while a felony of receiving stolen property and a misdemeanor of tampering with or fabricating evidence were dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
The 47-year-old defendant, who plans to appeal the jury's verdict, faces a maximum consecutive sentence of nine years imprisonment and fines on both charges. The maximum sentence for the theft offense is seven years, while the obstructing administration of the law charge carries a maximum sentence of two years incarceration.
It is highly unlikely Keefer will receive the maximum sentence since he has no prior criminal record.
The minimum sentence for the theft charge is probation to nine months incarceration, while the misdemeanor offense carries a minimum sentence of probation.
Keefer will probably have to make restitution in the case, but that amount has not yet been determined.
Two-year investigation
Keefer was charged by Trooper Kevin L. Bletz of the Pennsylvania State Police Auto Theft Task Force with failing to return a truck owned by Joy Kulenguskey that he towed in 2008. Police said the truck was towed and stored by Keefer at his business, A&G Towing on Bear Valley Avenue, before it disappeared.
The charges, filed in August 2010, involve a two-year investigation conducted by Bletz, who was asked by Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Rosini and Shamokin police to conduct the probe in February 2008 because of a prior conflict between city police and Keefer. That conflict involved a dispute with the city over towing and storage charges when Keefer removed 18 vehicles from Robert Gilligbauer's Shamokin property in 2007.