3 suspended from school in band theft

ERIE, Pa. (AP) -- Three high school students were suspended for attempting to sell school band instruments worth about $10,000 on the Internet auction site eBay.
Erie School District officials, taken aback by the scam, said the students acquired their computer skills in class.
"These students used the skills we trained them with to steal from us," said Erie Superintendent James Barker.
The names of the East High School students were not released.
A band instructor discovered that 20 to 30 instruments were missing after doing an inventory.
School officials asked the Erie Police Department to begin an investigation.
When confronted, the students admitted that they were trying to sell the instruments on eBay, Barker said.
A number of instruments had already been sold, but none had been shipped, school officials said. All of the instruments have been recovered.
Two of the students were suspended for 45 days, and the third student was suspended for one month after expulsion hearings in November.
Barker said the only reason the students were not expelled was that the mastermind of the scheme was not a student. The students will likely face criminal charges, Barker said.