Penalty of Sefer Torah thief: six years arrest

Only in the USA: Christopher Colwill , 41 years old, was sentenced at the end of last week by the court to jail for three to six years and a fine of $5,000, after stealing a Sefer Torah worth $35,000 and a sum of cash from Tzedaka boxes, for the sum of $200.

Last December, a robbery took place in the central Beis Midrash in Monticello in the Catskills, New York. A Sefer Torah, books and money from the Tzedaka boxes were stolen. For a few weeks the police investigated the case, and after about a month it tracked down the thief and the Sefer Torah was located.

Judge Mike McGwire said to Colwill that stealing the book was a lack of sensitivity, and it seems that he did not understand the implications of this deed. In response, Colwill told him: "I understand the spiritual and material implication, and I am sorry from the depth of my heart".

Colwill served in the past as a temporary employee in the shull for certain services.