By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
A felon has received a four-suspended sentence for his role in a catalytic converter theft this summer at a Yukon storage business.
Oklahoma City’s Daniel Thomas MacArthur, 41, pleaded no contest on Dec. 14 to grand larceny in Canadian County District Court.
After accepting the plea, Judge Khristan K. Strubhar approved suspending sentence for four years pursuant to a plea agreement between prosecutors and the defendant.
MacArthur will be supervised by the state Department of Corrections and must comply with rules and conditions of supervised probation as part of the plea deal. This includes completing Canadian County’s community sentencing program.
MacArthur and co-conspirator James Douglas Glock, 30, were charged July 8 for stealing the catalytic converter from a pick-up truck at Devon Self Storage, 1777 W Vandament.
A catalytic converter is a device incorporated in the exhaust system of a motor vehicle that uses a catalyst to convert the more harmful compounds of the engine’s emissions.
MacArthur and Glock “knowingly, intentionally and conjointly” took and carried away a catalytic converter valued at $2,500 “by stealth and fraud” from a Yukon resident “with the intent to permanently deprive” the victim of the catalytic converter, according to court documents.
A felony grand larceny charge is punishable by up to five years in state prison or one year in county jail.
MacArthur appeared at the Dec. 14th court hearing by video from the Canadian County Jail. His attorney Jason Spanich and Assistant District Attorney Micheal Oglesby were in the courtroom.
Along with the suspended sentence, Judge Strubhar ordered the defendant to pay a $50 fine, $50 victim’s compensation assessment, $250 indigent defender fee, and court-related costs.
BURGLAR ALARM ACTIVATED
Yukon police officers were dispatched about 4:05 a.m. July 1 to Devon Self Storage on an activated burglary alarm, according to a police incident report.
Glock and MacArthur were reportedly found inside a 2004 Ford F250 at the Yukon storage business.
Yukon officers observed two “cut” catalytic converters in the truck bed.
Upon further inspection, officers allegedly found a glass pipe, spoon with drug residue, several blue pills, three reciprocating saws and blades, and another catalytic converter.
Glock and MacArthur were arrested and booked into the Canadian County Jail. Both men were initially released on bond.
MacArthur was again booked into the Canadian County Jail on Sept. 14 after being arrested on a bench warrant for failure to appear. He was released from custody after his Dec. 14th no contest plea.
MacArthur has 2021 felony convictions for unauthorized use of a vehicle and obstructing an officer in Oklahoma County District Court.
Meanwhile, the felony burglary case against Oklahoma City’s Glock is pending in Canadian County District Court.
He is being held at the Oklahoma County Jail on a laundry list of drug, weapons, stolen property, and traffic charges.
