Son in trailer ‘theft ring' sentenced, must repay $164,000

GRAHAM — A Graham man was sentenced last week to at least a year in prison with the possibility of another four to five years in prison if he doesn’t pay back the $164,000 owed for stealing more than 25 trailers and other machinery in 2010.

James Russell Kellam, 25, of Lacy Holt Road, Graham, was charged in 2010 with stealing metal trailers, horse trailers and other equipment from companies, residences and construction sites. His father, Jerry Lynn Kellam, was also charged in the thefts but has since died.

Between January and August 2010, they stole 28 transport trailers, including several horse trailers, court documents showed. They would back a rig up to commercial and domestic transport trailers and drive away with them to an area where they would strip them of metal. The metal was then sold to a recycling company in Caswell County, said Alamance County Assistant District Attorney Craig Thompson. That company alerted the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department that summer: The amount of metal being brought in was suspicious.

The Alamance County Sheriff’s Office described the father-son operation as part of an “organized theft ring,” and in an August 2010 press conference, Sheriff Terry Johnson said investigators employed a plane shared with the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office to locate the area used to disassemble the trailers.

In all, James Kellam pleaded guilty March 4 to 20 counts of felony larceny, nine counts of possession of stolen goods and one count of misdemeanor larceny.

He was sentenced to two active six- to eight-month sentences. Another eight six- to eight-month sentences were suspended and Kellam was placed on five years’ probation.

During those years, he must repay $163,765 to the victims, including Jade Truck Lines, Knox Grain Farms, Federal Waste Paper Inc., TST Logistics, Stevenson Vestal, Holt Hosiery, several other companies and numerous other individuals.

Kellam was ordered not to have contact with any of the victims and report to Sustainable Alamance or another post-release program when he is released from prison.

Resource: Michael D. Abernethy / Times-News , Burlington, NC, Published: Monday, March 11, 2013 at 17:47 PM.