TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Guardsman Gets Probation For Stinger Simulator Theft

ADVERTISEMENT

By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 3, 2008

Updated: 09/03/2008 04:19 pm

TAMPA - An Army National Guard member who stole a Stinger missile-firing simulator because he thought it would make a great "garage ornament" was sentenced in federal court today to 18 months of probation.

Scott J. Howarth, 21, pleaded guilty to theft of government property as part of a plea agreement in May. He must undergo mental-health counseling as a condition of his probation, Judge Susan A. Bucklew said. He is eligible for early termination of probation after 12 months.

Public defender Dionja Dyer declined to comment after the sentencing but had requested probation. Howarth's criminal record is limited, and he is hoping to salvage having a career in the military, she said.

"He's been reprimanded up and down his chain of command," she said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eduardo E. Toro-Font said in court he also preferred probation to prison time, provided Howarth receive counseling.

"I don't think there was any ulterior motive here," he said.

Howarth did not speak after the sentencing. However, when addressing the judge, he said he had made "a very stupid and foolish mistake."

"I need to get on the ball with life," Howarth said. "I've learned more than anything not to take life for granted because you can have it taken away from you at any moment."

According to the plea agreement, Howarth took the gadget home in October after it was left behind in his vehicle during training in Fort Stewart, Ga. It is worth about $37,000. He returned it to authorities undamaged.

Howarth and Dyer said in court that he lost his job as a Charlotte County corrections officer because of the arrest. He is training to work as an auto painter in Port Charlotte.

Howarth has an unresolved matter at the circuit-court level related to his taking aluminum from the family of his girlfriend and selling it during an ongoing dispute, Dyer told Bucklew. No criminal charge has been filed in the matter, which is being discussed by county prosecutors and another attorney for Howarth, Dyer said.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT