Mid acquitted of role in car thefts Jurors point to absence of key prosecution witness

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Cheap jordans From the start superonsalemall , the odds were against former Naval Academy Midshipman Joe L. Smith, charged with belonging cheap nike air jordan shoes to a brazen stolen car ring that shipped vehicles from New York to Maryland. Cheap jordans

cheap yeezys FBI agents and Navy investigators were on the case. Six former midshipmen pleaded guilty. Smith’s former cheap jordans for adults roommate planned to testify against him. cheap yeezys

cheap nike shoes But Smith’s gamble, cheap air jordans for sale online to take his case to trial, paid off yesterday when a federal jury in Baltimore found him not guilty of two felony charges that could have put him behind bars for 15 years. cheap nike shoes

cheap jordans sale “The first thing I’ll do is drink a toast to innocence revealed and honor restored,” Smith, 24, a senior on leave from the academy, said outside the courtroom. cheap jordans sale

cheap air jordan Ensign Leslie Lance, an academy spokeswoman, cheap jordans under 100 said Smith will receive his degree but will not become an officer. She also said the academy has recommended that Smith repay the cost of his tuition, more than $80,000. District Court: not guilty of conspiracy, not guilty of transporting, receiving and selling stolen property. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio would say as he walked away with prosecutor Susan Ringler. cheap air jordan

Jurors said they were concerned that prosecutors never called a key cheap jordans canada witness in the case, Navy Ensign Corey Avens, who said when he pleaded guilty recently that he could not implicate Smith in the ring.

“That’s why we felt the government had not proven its cheap jordans website legit case,” juror Jacqueline Philpot said. “Everything revolved around Avens, and he just wasn’t there.”

The verdict closes one in a series of scandals at the academy, which has been shaken by news of cheating, LSD use and the murder case against an academy freshman.

cheap jordans from china Six former midshipmen and a civilian have pleaded guilty to their roles in the car theft ring. They are Avens; Joshua Gray, who resigned from the academy; cheap air jordans size 9 Ensign Arthur Brown; Arthur Sherrod, who was dismissed from the academy; Christopher Rounds, a dismissed midshipman who distributed a stolen exam in 1992 that led to the academy’s biggest cheating scandal; civilian Marcus Peterson; and Kenneth Leak, a dismissed midshipman. District Judge Marvin cheap jordans online mens J. cheap jordans wholesale Garbis over the next few months. cheap jordans from china

Leak, 23, who bunked with Smith for nearly four years, was a key prosecution witness.

cheap adidas He testified that the scheme started as an innocent idea to find a four wheel drive vehicle for the winter. He said Avens introduced him and Smith to Peterson, cheap jordans size 14 a street savvy civilian from New York City. cheap adidas

cheap cheap jordans youth jordans free shipping Leak testified that he and Smith struck a deal to buy a new Toyota 4Runner for $10,000. Leak said he and Smith pooled their money and that Leak traveled to New York to pick up the truck. After driving it to Annapolis, Leak said, he told Smith what had happened in New super cheap jordans York how he cleared personal items from the truck, scraped off registration stickers and changed the tags. cheap jordans free shipping

cheap jordan sneakers “We were basically disturbed that it was stolen,” Leak testified. cheap jordan sneakers

“What did you decide to do?” DiBiagio cheap jordans buy online asked.

“We decided to sell it,” Leak said.

cheap jordans on sale After registering the truck with phony paperwork, Leak said, he and Smith took the truck to cheap jordans online china Honda of Annapolis and sold it for $21,000. cheap air jordans for sale cheap jordans on sale

He said they deposited the money and made another deal. Leak testified that he and Smith asked Peterson to find two Jeep Grand Cherokees. He said they traveled to Jamaica, New York, to pick up the trucks.

cheap jordans online Peterson had two Jeeps, one blue, the other green. He said the blue Jeep wouldn’t start. Leak and Smith drove the cheap jordan shoe sites green Jeep to Annapolis. cheap jordans online

cheap air force Peterson testified that he tried to fix the super cheap jordans for sale blue Jeep and that Smith returned to pick it up. buy cheap jordans online free shipping Again, the Jeep wouldn’t start. cheap air force

cheap jordans in china Peterson called his sources and placed an order for another truck. A few hours later, Peterson’s sources pulled up with a Nissan Pathfinder. cheap jordans in china

He testified that Smith scraped off the stickers, removed personal items and drove away with advice from Peterson to stay away from the local 113th Police jordan retro 12 cheap Precinct.

cheap Air max shoes When Smith, wearing his Navy uniform, showed up at the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration with phony paperwork for the Pathfinder, a state worker reported the problem to the academy. cheap Air max shoes

cheap jordans shoes With the stolen Jeep and Pathfinder parked at the academy, prosecutors said, Smith and Leak called Avens and Rounds. cheap jordans shoes

cheap jordans for sale Rounds, 27, testified that he told Smith or Leak he said he couldn’t recall which cheap jordan slippers one that he would “get rid” of the vehicles. Instead, Rounds decided to sell them cheap jordans for sale.