Four Individuals Convicted of Stealing Interstate Shipment from Railcar

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Richard E. Riedman, 39, of Webster, New York; Anthony Toscano, 47, of Rochester, New York; Anthony J. Russell, 39, of Rochester, New York; and Timothy M. Stone, 32, of Chili, New York, were convicted after a jury trial of conspiracy to steal an interstate shipment and theft of an interstate shipment. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when the defendants are sentenced by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa who presided over the trial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett A. Harvey handled the prosecution of the case. As shown by the evidence at the trial, on June 30, 2009, the defendants stole more than 16 gross tons of scrap steel from a railcar at a CSX Transportation rail yard in Batavia, New York. A logging truck was used by the defendants to remove 17 gross-ton bales of processed scrap steel from the railcar. The defendants were apprehended by members of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office in the logging truck and a pick-up truck as they left the scene of the theft in the early morning hours of June 30. The bales were in the process of being shipped to a steel mill in Pennsylvania when stolen by the defendants.

Previously, Christopher Monfort was convicted of federal charges in connection with the same case and is awaiting sentencing.

The conviction was the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Christopher M. Piehota, and the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Gary Maha.

All defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in January before Judge Charles J. Siragusa.