The son of a self-storage owner in Marion, N.C., must pay $95,000 in restitution to some of the facilitys tenants after pleading guilty to several 2010 theft charges. Benjamin David Raymer, 31, who had been put in charge of running Fort Knox Climate Control Storage, entered guilty pleas in McDowell County Superior Court to four counts each of felony breaking and entering and felony larceny, and two counts of felony obtaining property by false pretense.
On Dec. 3, 2010, a customer of the facility reported that $15,000 worth of goods was stolen from her rented storage unit. Three days later, another customer reported a similarly valued theft. After receiving two more break-in calls from Fort Knox tenants on Dec. 9, police went to the facility to discover yet a fifth unit had been compromised, with $100,000 in furniture stolen.
Upon investigating, detectives found some of the stolen property in the possession of Raymers acquaintances, and Raymer, with the help of accomplice Jerry Davis, 40, had broken into the units and sold it during a weeklong sale at the storage site. Buyers were told the items were from units on which rent had not been paid.
In addition to restitution, Raymer received three consecutive six- to eight-month suspended sentences and was placed him supervised probation for five years. He must spend nine months on intensive supervised probation, perform 72 hours of community service and pay court costs.
