MONTICELLO – A 29-year-old Mongaup Valley man has been charged by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office with felony grand larceny for allegedly selling property he stole from a deceased woman’s home in the Town of Bethel and then allegedly tried to sell the vacant house trailer itself on Facebook.
Dakota Boyce was allegedly taken property from the woman’s home on Britman Road in the Town of Bethel and selling it on Facebook and other social media sites.
Sheriff’s detectives monitored the internet sites until one day the woman’s house trailer came up for sale.
“We were shocked,” said Undersheriff Eric Chaboty. “It’s one thing to steal your dead neighbor’s personal items, but to think you could steal her entire residence and get away with it, you’ve got to be kidding.”
Undercover deputies posing as buyers negotiated with Boyce over the internet for several weeks.
“Initially he wanted $18,000, but when he admitted he didn’t have the title, he dropped the price to $3,000,” Chaboty said.
This past Monday, July 11, undercover deputies met with Boyce and gave him a down payment of $500. As soon as he accepted the money, he was arrested.
Following his booking, he was released on an appearance ticket returnable to Bethel Town Court.
