Man Sentenced to 6 Months in Oscar Thefts

A West Covina man accused of stealing 55 Academy Award statuettes from a loading dock in Bell was sentenced to six months in county jail after he pleaded no contest to a single count of grand theft.

Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler also ordered Lawrence Edward Ledent, 38, to serve five years’ probation after he completes his jail term and pay $51,000 in restitution--$50,000 for the reward that Roadway Express paid for the missing statuettes and $1,000 for three Oscars that are still missing.

Ledent and another man, who both worked for Roadway Express, were arrested March 18 after the Oscars disappeared from the company’s shipping facility in Bell.

Investigators accused Ledent and the second man of scheming to sell the Oscars for profit. But a few days before the Academy Awards ceremonies, 52 of the Oscars were found near a dumpster behind a strip mall in Koreatown.

Ledent initially pleaded not guilty in the case, and prosecutors refused to charge the second man, citing insufficient evidence. Court officials said Ledent is scheduled to surrender Aug. 7 to begin serving his sentence in county jail.