Guilty pleas in theft-ring case should shed light on schemes

Bobby Joe Mock and Gennaro Bellard had better have something important to tell prosecutors about the criminal organization to which they belonged, or their plea agreements should be revoked.

Mock and Bellard have pleaded guilty to their roles in a Valley burglary ring broken up last month by a multi-jurisdictional, law enforcement task force.

The burglaries ended with the indictment of 15 people on racketeering and 67 other criminal charges. The task force, led by James Ciotti, an agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in the Attorney General’s Office, recovered stolen goods worth more than $400,000.

Mock, who is in Mahoning County Jail on an unrelated conviction, pleaded guilty to all 44 counts against him involving breaking and entering, theft and receiving stolen property and a state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization charge.

Mock is alleged to be one of the leaders of the burglary ring.

Bellard pleaded guilty to breaking and entering at Gollan Motorcycle Sales and Service from which 10 motorcycles were stolen in January 2006. Prosecutors are recommending probation.

As a condition of the guilty pleas, both individuals must testify against others.

“We believe that the defendant was a very major player and an important part of the ongoing criminal organization,” Kasey Shidel, assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, said of Mock.

But the characterization of the ring as a “criminal organization” is not shared by Mock’s lawyer.

“It’s a hapless group of individuals who largely acted individually,” said Atty. Jeffrey Limbian. “This isn’t some Mafia-type organization.”

Hapless?

Police jackets

We certainly would not use that word to describe the more than 120 break-ins, $400,000 worth of stolen goods, and even police jackets taken from Red Diamond Uniforms in Austintown.

Warren police detective Jeffrey Hoolihan said the burglars planned to pose as police who would raid drug houses and steal the money and drugs.

That certainly does not meet the definition of hapless.

Indeed, when the indictments of the 15 were announced, task force agents also noted that the ring was the third of four “cells” that have been uncovered. The four are not related.

The results of the investigation into the fourth cell have not been made public, but law enforcement officials have said expert burglars were involved.

As for the burglary ring that Mock and Bellard participated in, authorities have described it as being so sophisticated that a prospective buyer could order a specific type of item and it would be stolen from a home or business.

Among the businesses targeted were Wal-Mart in Boardman, Home Depot in Warren, and a number of area restaurants, car dealerships and other concerns.

It is a feather in law enforcement’s cap that Mock and Bellard agreed to plead guilty and to testify against the others. But the value of the information they provide should be closely evaluated.

Indeed, the question that task members should seek to answer is this: Was there a mastermind?

Given the history of crime in this region, the question is not far-fetched. And, neither is the possibility of organized crime figures being involved.