In Indiana County Court today, sentencing is scheduled for a Clarion County man for two theft cases. 27-year-old Collin David Polka of New Bethlehem pleaded guilty to retail theft and corruption of minors in one case, and to the same two crimes in the second.
Polka and 34-year-old Kayla Steele each were charged for stealing almost $5,000 worth of ink cartridges from the White Township Walmart store last November.
The same two defendants pulled the same scheme off at a Walmart in Saint Marys in December. In each case, they had their young son with them. Steele pleaded guilty to the same four offenses as Polka and was sentenced last month to four years of probation.
Also in court today, 24-year-old Brandon Laroy Franklin of Detroit, Michigan, will be sentenced for retail theft. Franklin, 27-year-old Shawn Acklin, and 28-year-old Adrius Franklin, who are also from Michigan, were charged here in Indiana County and in other counties in western Pennsylvania and in Virginia, were charged for stealing thousands of dollars worth of electronics from Walmart stores in an organized retail theft operation. Acklin and Franklin have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced.
UPDATE: Collin David Polka was ordered to serve one to three years in state prison for each count he faced in both cases. The sentences will run concurrently. Brandon Laroy Franklin was ordered to serve six months to one year in Indiana County Jail and to serve two years of probation when he is released… WCCS Radio News
