Man Jailed After Stealing $6,100 In Copper Wire In Mansfield

MANSFIELD, MA — A Stoughton man was sentenced to 18 months in prison with a year of probation after prosecutors said he stole over $6,000 worth of copper wire from the Mansfield Municipal Electric Department last summer.

Paul Anderson, 52, was sentenced in Attleboro District Court, where the judge rejected his plea for leniency, the Sun Chronicle reported. Anderson admitted to stealing $6,100 worth of copper wire from the department's storage yard on High Street over the course of two days in June 2018. Prosecutors said security footage linked Anderson and his van to the theft. Police told the Sun Chronicle they got additional video surveillance of Anderson selling copper wire at Allied Recycling Center in Walpole.

Anderson had asked the judge for leniency, saying his mother was suffering from cancer and he wanted to start speaking with young people about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. The judge did not grant leniency, citing that Anderson has over 90 charges on his criminal record, including larceny and breaking and entering.