Mableton Man Sentenced in Connection to $86K Canned Tuna Theft

A Mableton man has been sentenced to federal prison after helping with more than 20 interstate cargo thefts of a total of nearly $2 million in goods over a four-year period, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

John Raymond Smith, also known as Johnny Ray Smith, 51, was sentenced to four months and two years in federal prison on Tuesday on charges of conspiracy; buying, receiving and possessing stolen goods and money laundering. He was convicted of these charges on June 2, 2010 after entering a guilty plea.

After serving his prison sentence, Smith will be subject to three years of supervised release, and he must also pay $993,903 in restitution to the victims of his thefts.

Smith, who operated Smith Sales Company from warehouses in Mableton and Hiram, was connected to about 24 interstate tractor-trailer and container thefts throughout the southeast from May 2005 to July 2009. He partnered with Robin Cheatwood, who operated A-Z Discount in Cedartown, to buy and receive the goods stolen from tractor trailers and containers.

The stolen goods included: a $123,000 shipment of brand name TVs and computers, a $164,000 shipment of Casio, Inc. electronics, $100,000 in GT One cigarettes, a $450,000 shipment of computerized sewing machines, an $86,000 shipment of Starkist canned tuna, $40,000 in baby clothes, and $64,000 in Wrigley’s chewing gum, according to the release.

U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said some of the stolen items were still in original manufacturers’ packaging and were “sold in untraceable untraceable cash transactions at below-market prices and without official paperwork.”

The investigation is ongoing. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is asking members of the public who have seen suspicious off-loading of semi-trailer trucks at rest stops, truck stops, industrial areas or residential areas, particularly at night or on weekends to call the GBI’s Major Theft Unit at 404-244-2600.