A Milesburg man was sentenced on Friday for a series of crimes involving stolen snakes, firearms and heroin.
The judge ordered that Flick serve 18 months to four years in state prison, followed by three years probation.
Nathan Flick, 20, first drew the attention of law enforcement in May 2013 when he and two accomplices broke into a Union Township home and stole 13 snakes valued at $30,000, according to a news release from the district attorney’s office.
After attempting to sell the snakes at a reptile show in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, Flick was apprehended and later convicted of various theft charges. While waiting to be sentenced, Flick was arrested a second time less than a year after the first incident.
Flick stole three snakes valued at over $900 from the Petco store in Patton Township in March 2014, according to the news release. The snakes were eventually recovered in Mill Hall, Pa.
The next month, Flick once again drew the attention of law enforcement. He and another man reportedly stole a rifle and sold it for $350. After driving to Williamsport to purchase heroin with the money from the stolen gun, Flick was arrested a third time.
Given the repeated nature of Fleck’s offenses, prosecutors argued that he should face no less than three years in state prison. He was convicted on several charges including burglary, retail theft, conspiracy to commit retail theft, receiving stolen property, theft by deception, and criminal conspiracy.
“This Defendant knew no bounds in his quest for heroin, as if one snake caper wasn’t enough, when he ran out of snakes to steal he moved onto firearms,” District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller Miller said in a prepared statement. “We are pleased we were able to put an end to this before guns ended up in the hands of drug dealers.”
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