PORTLAND — A federal judge Wednesday imposed a six-month sentence on a New York man who sold tools and equipment stolen from Home Depot stores throughout New England, including Auburn.
Jose Avila Androscoggin County Jail
Jose Avila, 33, pleaded guilty last year to a charge of conspiracy to possess and sell interstate stolen goods. The felony is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Avila appeared in U.S. District Court by videoconference from his mother’s home in Brooklyn.
Chief Judge Jon D. Levy also sentenced Avila to a three-year term of supervised release after he’s out of prison. He will start serving his time behind bars in June.
Levy ordered Avila to repay Home Depot more than $115,000 for the stolen merchandise in what Levy described as a “somewhat brazen” scheme at the same time Avila was wanted on two warrant charging similar conduct.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Perry said of Avila, “there doesn’t seem to be any stopping him.”
Investigators said that from October 2018 through February 2019, Avila and two accomplices stole merchandise from Home Depot stores in five New England states, including a store in Auburn, then drove the stolen goods, including power tools and generators to the New York City area where they would sell them online.
Avila asked Levy whether he would consider home confinement instead of incarceration.
Levy said he’d considered the alternative, but decided it wouldn’t be “sufficient” given the crime.
Perry was seeking an 11-month prison term, but Levy softened the sentence, noting Avila’s responsibility for two young daughters and ailing mother, as well as his risk of deportation.
Avila’s father died last year from COVID-19.
Avila was born in Honduras and came to the United States at age 3.
He had worked as a property manager and expects to return to that job, he said.
His sister, Susy Avila, told the judge that her brother was a changed man since his criminal escapades. She said he was needed at home.
“He’s the glue to the family,” she said.
“I know what I did was a big mistake,” Avila told the judge. “I apologize.”
Levy told Avila he would need to lead a life “of honor” now.
“There’s no better message you could send to your children,” Levy said.
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