| By David Hedges Publisher/ Times Record-Roane County Reporter
A Calhoun man charged with selling a stolen tractor to his uncle was found not guilty in a jury trial in Roane County last week. Dylan Paul Little. 25, of Big Springs was found not guilty of transferring stolen goods, possession of a stolen vehicle and conspiracy following a day-long trial last Wednesday.
A co-defendant, Michael Ray Hall Jr., 35, of Chloe who pled guilty to a charge of transferring stolen goods a few days before the trial, testified that he never told Little the tractor was stolen, only that he needed to get rid of it in a hurry.
The pair went to Little's uncle, Harlan Little, who agreed to pay $10,000 for the tractor valued at $50,000 that was stolen from a farm in the Akron, Ohio, area.
Little said his nephew told him the tractor was owned by a family going into bankruptcy. Dylan Little accompanied Hall when they approached his uncle about purchasing the tractor, and a few days later when the tractor was delivered.
Sheriff Todd Cole produced a
bill of sale that indicated Harlan Little paid $1,200 before the tractor was delivered, with the remaining $8,800 to be paid later.
Defense attorney David Richardson of Winfield called Roy Dennis as a witness, who said he suspected the tractor was stolen when Hall tried to sell it to him. He said Hall did not have a title for the equipment.
Little also took the stand in his own defense and said he did not know the tractor was stolen.
The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated about an hour before presenting their verdict to Judge Anita Ashley. Little remains in the regional jail after he was arrested a few days prior to the trial on an unrelated charge.
Little was charged with second degree robbery, burglary and two counts of conspiracy in connection with a Jan. 8 home invasion on Egypt Ridge. He is being held in the regional jail in lieu of $85,000 while awaiting a preliminary hearing.
A co-defendant in that case, Justin Skaggs, 20, of Newton, has already pled guilty to burglary, which caries a maximum of l-to-15 years, and conspiracy, for which he could get 1-to-5 years. His sentencing has been set for May 30.
Hall is facing a maximum penalty of 1-to-10 years for transferring stolen goods when he is sentenced in the tractor case.
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