Appellate court upholds theft conviction, life sentence

Published 2:47 am Saturday, January 6, 2018

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has denied Pete Jimenez’s appeal from his theft convictions.

A Covington County jury convicted Jimenez in 2016 for four counts of Theft of Property I and two counts of Theft of Property II. The charges arose from a series of thefts from Covington County businesses. Evidence at trial showed that Jimenez took “pre-orders” for the property, which included utility trailers, tires, golf carts, lawnmowers and all-terrain vehicles, according to a press release from the Covington County District Attorney’s office. Jiminez then “scoped out” the items he needed and stole them.

After the trial, Circuit Judge Charles A. “Lex” Short sentenced him to life imprisonment for each conviction and ordered him to pay $35,849.31 in restitution to the business owners.

District Attorney Walt Merrell said, “Pete Jimenez had already been convicted of felony property crimes 22 times when he was arrested on these charges. He admitted that he began stealing again one month after he was released from prison the last time. He is a career thief, who methodically went about his ‘business’ of stealing. Thanks to the solid investigation by Andalusia and Opp Police Departments, Jimenez’s convictions and sentences were upheld on appeal, and he will remain in prison where Judge Short put him.”