GALLIPOLIS — Gallia County Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Adkins announced the conviction of a Gallipolis-area man for two offenses in connection with the theft of property from a local church.

Julian S. Palmer, 36, 7783 State Route 588, was indicted by the September 2008 session of the Gallia County grand jury for theft, a fourth degree felony, for depriving Living Water Church of 1,400 pounds of rafters and wall beams, and for breaking and entering, a fifth degree felony, for trespassing on the land of Living Water Church, 845 Kerr Road, Bidwell, with purpose to commit a felony.

A jury of nine men and three women found Palmer guilty of a lesser included offense of theft as a fifth degree felony, and of the offense of breaking and entering, following a one-day trial in Gallia County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday.

By finding Palmer guilty of a fifth degree, rather than a fourth degree felony theft, the jury specified that the value of the stolen property was greater than $500 but less than $5,000. Judge D. Dean Evans accepted the jury’s verdicts and continued the matter for sentencing, to be held after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation report.

Each fifth degree felony is punishable by a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $2,500 fine.

Adkins said that Palmer and a juvenile accomplice went to Living Water Church on Aug. 5, 2008, removed the property and were seen doing so by a church official. Palmer later sold the property to a local scrap and recycling company. The recycling company managers allowed Gallia County sheriff’s deputies to review their security video footage and sale records, from which deputies identified Palmer as the individual in possession of the stolen property.

Prosecutors mentioned that, with the rise in property crimes occurring in the county in recent years, it was encouraging from a law enforcement standpoint that a scrap and recycling firm was responsible in the conduct of its business, and that the constant video surveillance of the company’s property and the cooperation of its staff was paramount in reaching a successful conclusion to this prosecution.

Adkins also thanked the representatives of the Living Water Church and deputies of Gallia County Sheriff Joe Browning for their assistance in preparing for and presenting the case at trial.