Defendant concedes he stole but convinces jury it wasn’t a federal crime
By Brendan Kirby
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MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — A Mississippi man conceded this week that he took money from kiosks in Fairhope, Saraland and Mobile – but argued it did not amount to a federal crime.
On Friday, a jury agreed.
The jury found Stanley Aubrey Baker not guilty of all three counts of wire fraud.
“Obviously, we’re extremely satisfied that the jury agreed this wasn’t a federal crime,” defense attorney Jason Darley said.
Baker worked for The Hillman Group beginning in May last year as a field service technician, serving the company’s kiosks in northern Alabama. Those machines allow customers to get keys or pet tags.
Prosecutors alleged that Baker was accessing machines outside of his service area – using his company credentials to make it appear as though he had legitimate business in those stores – and stealing money. In addition to Alabama, they say, he stole from machines in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Virginia and Ohio.
The MinuteKey kiosks Baker was accused of stealing from were in Wal-Mart stores in the Mobile areas.
The case turned on technical distinctions between state and federal law. A wire fraud charge requires prosecutors to prove that the defendant used a wire in interstate wire communications in furtherance of a criminal scheme.
Prosecutors argued that Baker did that when he unplugged kiosks. But Darley countered that unplugging the machines did nothing to further his client’s scheme; all that was needed to access the units was the defendant’s key.
“It was of no benefit to him to unplug them,” he said.
In fact, Darley said, it triggered an “intruder alert” that led to the defendant’s capture.
Baker’s legal problems are not over, however. He has pending charges in state court.
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