[StBernard] Cemetery thefts net five years in prison

[Westley Annis]

Cemetery thefts net five years in prison
by St. Bernard bureau, The Times-Picayune 
Friday September 26, 2008, 10:49 PM
A Chalmette man has been sentenced to five years in prison for stealing
brass flower vases from a cemetery and selling them as scrap metal for
pennies on the dollar.

Patrick Centorbi, 22, pleaded guilty to theft this week and was sentenced to
five years in prison by state District Judge Wayne Cresap, the St. Bernard
Parish Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

Centorbi and three other men were arrested in April, charged with stealing
about 200 brass vases from graves at St. Bernard Memorial Gardens Cemetery
in Chalmette.

State Police recovered about 50 vases at a New Orleans scrapyard, where they
had been dumped in recycling bins like so many aluminum cans.

Police said the scrapyard bought the vases, which were engraved with the
names of the dead, for less than 2 cents on the dollar compared to retail
prices. The 8-pound vases cost $600, but they fetched $9.60 each at the
yard, which was paying $1.20 a pound for brass.

Nearly 100 vases were found in the back of one of the suspect's pickup
trucks, leaving up to 50 vases that were never recovered.

The other three suspects are awaiting trial.