Completely off topic, does anyone know where I can get two 18-way cable TV splitters?

Unrelated but...

Driver accused of stealing 36 Samsung televisions

by Paul Koepp/The Jersey Journal
Wednesday October 29, 2008, 11:32 AM

An employee of a Jersey City trucking company is suspected of stealing 36 televisions he was supposed to deliver on Monday, according to police.

The owner of Liberty Line Express on Duncan Avenue told police yesterday he had driven a load of 129 Samsung televisions from Georgia and told one of his drivers on Sunday to take them to a shipping company in Elizabeth at noon the next day, reports said.

He gave the employee the key to the truck's rear door on Sunday afternoon, but, he told police, the shipment never reached its destination.

Another employee saw the driver take the truck to a nearby Gulf gas station and leave it there, reports said.

Police said they are waiting for surveillance tapes from the truck terminal and serial numbers for the stolen TV sets as they continue their investigation. No arrests have been made.

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Or that it's pronounced 'B-you-m'. That was a pretty elaborate scheme.... worthy of a DiCaprio or Clooney movie.... but for 3 years? You'd think by then the warehouses would have got wise.

Mark.

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He spends his life trying to convince people that the second "b" isn't silent.

"Edward P. Cijntje, 45, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ren?e M. Bumb"

"In determining an actual sentence, Judge Bumb will consult the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines......."

Having to grow up with this name, I suspect that this judge has become a resentful, angry, bitter person. I don't envy the defendant who must stand before Judge Bum in a courtroom.

Admits stealing $1.7M in goods by posing as trucker

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
By TOM SHORTELL
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Jersey City man who stole roughly $1.7 million worth of merchandise by pretending to be a driver for a trucking company pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of conspiracy to steal interstate cargo shipments, officials said.

Edward P. Cijntje, 45, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to posing as an employee of various trucking companies to steal merchandise from retailers such as Marshals, Polo/Ralph Lauren, and Saks Fifth Avenue, officials said.

Cijntje said he spent more than three years working the scheme with his alleged co-conspirator, Jose Nunez of Union City, who would supply the names of the legitimate trucking concerns and the times they were scheduled to pick up merchandise from warehouses, officials said.

Cijntje and Nunez would then put plastic lettering on a truck corresponding to the name of the legitimate trucking firm, replace the license plates, and present fake identification at the warehouse and drive off with the merchandise he would then sell to the stores, officials said.

Cijntje faces up to five years in prison and a fine ranging from $250,000 to twice the pecuniary gain derived by the offense, while Nunez, 54, is free on a $250,000 bond, officials said.

Both men were arrested July 19, 2007, officials said.

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Below taken from Media-Newswire.com

Jersey City Man Pleads Guilty to String of Merchandise Shipment Thefts

A Jersey City man pleaded guilty today for his scheme to steal interstate cargo shipments containing approximately $1.7 million worth of merchandise from retailers that included Mervyns, Public Clothing Company, Polo/Ralph Lauren, Saks Fifth Avenue, Marshals, and Ross Stores, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

(Media-Newswire.com) - A Jersey City man pleaded guilty today for his scheme to steal interstate cargo shipments containing approximately $1.7 million worth of merchandise from retailers that included Mervyns, Public Clothing Company, Polo/Ralph Lauren, Saks Fifth Avenue, Marshals, and Ross Stores, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Edward P. Cijntje, 45, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ren?e M. Bumb to a one-count Information charging conspiracy to steal interstate cargo shipments. Judge Bumb continued Cijntje?s release on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing, which is scheduled for Feb. 2.

At his plea hearing, Cijntje admitted that he spent more than three years employing his scheme to steal roughly $1.7 million worth of merchandise. Cijntje admitted that he and his co-defendant, Jose Nunez, 54, of Union City, devised a plan where they would pose as legitimate trucking companies arriving to pick up retail clothing shipments at warehouses in New Jersey. After the merchandise was stolen, the defendants sold the stole good to local businesses, admitted Cijntje.

According to Cijntje, Nunez supplied him with information about shipments that were scheduled to be picked up by trucking companies and delivered to retailers. To commit the theft, the defendants would place plastic lettering on the sides of a box truck to make the truck appear as if it were owned by a legitimate trucking company, and they would replace the license plates on the box truck to conceal its identity, Cijntje admitted. Cijntje would then drive the purported delivery truck to the warehouse, present fake identification, and take the merchandise, he admitted. According to Cijntje, he, Nunez, and other coconspirators did this repeatedly.

Cijntje and Nunez were arrested on a criminal Complaint on July 19, 2007. Currently, Nunez is free on a $250,000 bond secured by equity in property.

The charge of conspiracy to steal interstate cargo shipments carries a statutory maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the pecuniary gain derived from the offense.

In pleading guilty to an Information, a defendant waives the right to have his case presented to a grand jury and, instead, pleads guilty to charges presented by the government.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Bumb will consult the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant?s criminal history, if any, and other factors. The Judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

U.S. Attorney Christie credited Special Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dunn, for this successful investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott B. McBride of the U.S. Attorney Office?s Government Fraud Unit.

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Defense Counsel: Michael G. Paul, Esq. Metuchen