The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld a Starke County man’s felony receiving stolen property conviction. Richard Kozecar was sentenced in May to two years in the Department of Corrections after a jury found him guilty of the offense. Court documents indicate Dennis Olp reported the theft of a muzzleloader with an upgraded scope and other items from his garage on Dec. 18, 2011. The weapon and scope were valued at around $1,000. Less than a week later, Kozecar reportedly ran into Vance Waldrop, said he had a muzzleloader that he wanted to, quote, “get rid of” and agreed to trade him the weapon for a handgun valued between $125 and $150 and $50 cash. The men exchanged weapons even though Waldrop did not have the cash available until after he got paid. Waldrop later became suspicious that the gun was stolen and notified the police. Court documents indicate Olp identified the weapon as the one taken from his garage. Kozecar was then charged with receiving stolen property.

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The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld a Starke County man’s felony receiving stolen property conviction. Richard Kozecar was sentenced in May to two years in the Department of Corrections after a jury found him guilty of the offense. Court documents indicate Dennis Olp reported the theft of a muzzleloader with an upgraded scope and other items from his garage on Dec. 18, 2011. The weapon and scope were valued at around $1,000. Less than a week later, Kozecar reportedly ran into Vance Waldrop, said he had a muzzleloader that he wanted to, quote, “get rid of” and agreed to trade him the weapon for a handgun valued between $125 and $150 and $50 cash. The men exchanged weapons even though Waldrop did not have the cash available until after he got paid. Waldrop later became suspicious that the gun was stolen and notified the police. Court documents indicate Olp identified the weapon as the one taken from his garage. Kozecar was then charged with receiving stolen property.

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