revision
05-22-2009, 12:20 PM
Remorseful man gets six months in jail for stealing Holocaust ring
May 22, 2009 07:15 am
http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_14200047.html
PEABODY — A Chelsea man apologized yesterday for stealing a ring that belonged to a Holocaust survivor while it was on display at the Peabody Institute Library last April.
"I'd just like to sincerely apologize to, first of all, the victim, the city, the library and anyone else this affected," Daniel Ghidella said during a hearing yesterday in Peabody District Court.
"I don't know why I took the ring," Ghidella said.
Ghidella, 39, of 50 Warren St., Peabody, pleaded guilty to one count of larceny over $250 and was sentenced to serve six months of a two-year jail term, followed by two years of probation.
Judge Robert Brennan also ordered Ghidella to perform 100 hours of community service.
Prosecutor Jason Grosky called the crime "egregious," whether or not Ghidella knew the ring's history. Grosky said Ghidella took advantage of an institution that provides a valuable service to the community.
Grosky told the judge that on the evening of April 16, Ghidella went to the library, where he has a card, and while there, opened a display case containing the ring.
The ring belongs to Sonia Weitz, a Holocaust survivor who co-founded the Holocaust Center Boston North. The center is based in the Peabody library.
The gold ring was given to her 60 years ago, when she was a teenager. It contains a secret compartment where a person could hide poison to commit suicide, rather than face the prospect of living in a concentration camp, Harriet Wacks, the center's director, said in April.
The ring had belonged to a concentration camp prisoner killed in a gas chamber. Another prisoner found the ring, and it eventually made its way to Weitz.
It's worth about $1,000, but its historical value is incalculable, Grosky told the judge.
Police identified Ghidella through surveillance tapes and library records — he had actually checked out some books that night — and went to Ghidella's address, where they found his girlfriend wearing the ring on her pinky.
Ghidella's lawyer, John J. Ruehrwein Jr., said his client "had no idea what it was besides it being a ring" when he impulsively decided to steal it. He had not planned to take anything, the lawyer said.
Ruehrwein said his client has suffered from severe depression and cluster headaches after a 2000 accident that resulted in him having a plate put in his head. He had stopped taking his medication a couple of months before the theft.
Ghidella had also once worked as a carpenter but became disabled after accidentally sawing off his thumb.
Brennan said he would take that into account but also considered Ghidella's history, which includes similar charges.
May 22, 2009 07:15 am
http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_14200047.html
PEABODY — A Chelsea man apologized yesterday for stealing a ring that belonged to a Holocaust survivor while it was on display at the Peabody Institute Library last April.
"I'd just like to sincerely apologize to, first of all, the victim, the city, the library and anyone else this affected," Daniel Ghidella said during a hearing yesterday in Peabody District Court.
"I don't know why I took the ring," Ghidella said.
Ghidella, 39, of 50 Warren St., Peabody, pleaded guilty to one count of larceny over $250 and was sentenced to serve six months of a two-year jail term, followed by two years of probation.
Judge Robert Brennan also ordered Ghidella to perform 100 hours of community service.
Prosecutor Jason Grosky called the crime "egregious," whether or not Ghidella knew the ring's history. Grosky said Ghidella took advantage of an institution that provides a valuable service to the community.
Grosky told the judge that on the evening of April 16, Ghidella went to the library, where he has a card, and while there, opened a display case containing the ring.
The ring belongs to Sonia Weitz, a Holocaust survivor who co-founded the Holocaust Center Boston North. The center is based in the Peabody library.
The gold ring was given to her 60 years ago, when she was a teenager. It contains a secret compartment where a person could hide poison to commit suicide, rather than face the prospect of living in a concentration camp, Harriet Wacks, the center's director, said in April.
The ring had belonged to a concentration camp prisoner killed in a gas chamber. Another prisoner found the ring, and it eventually made its way to Weitz.
It's worth about $1,000, but its historical value is incalculable, Grosky told the judge.
Police identified Ghidella through surveillance tapes and library records — he had actually checked out some books that night — and went to Ghidella's address, where they found his girlfriend wearing the ring on her pinky.
Ghidella's lawyer, John J. Ruehrwein Jr., said his client "had no idea what it was besides it being a ring" when he impulsively decided to steal it. He had not planned to take anything, the lawyer said.
Ruehrwein said his client has suffered from severe depression and cluster headaches after a 2000 accident that resulted in him having a plate put in his head. He had stopped taking his medication a couple of months before the theft.
Ghidella had also once worked as a carpenter but became disabled after accidentally sawing off his thumb.
Brennan said he would take that into account but also considered Ghidella's history, which includes similar charges.