LIHUE — The accomplice of a man who was sentenced for stealing copper from the Coco Palms was found guilty by a Kauai judge Monday. Prosecutors said Nicole Louise Smith, 31, aided copper thief Darren Dean White on June 25
LIHUE — The accomplice of a man who was sentenced for stealing copper from the Coco Palms was found guilty by a Kauai judge Monday.
Prosecutors said Nicole Louise Smith, 31, aided copper thief Darren Dean White on June 25 when the husband and wife entered dilapidated Coco Palms resort and attempted to make off with copper pipes stashed in several pillow cases.
The Coco Palms caretaker called Kauai police officers who then found the duo in a room at the Coco Palms property with various tools covered in dry wall, according to court records.
The two were indicted together as co-defendants on July 8, 2015.
On Monday, Smith pleaded no contest to accomplice to theft of copper and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia, both class C felonies. She also pleaded to criminal trespass in the second degree, a petty misdemeanor, in another case.
Each class C felony is punishable by five years in jail and a $10,000 fine.
White, 46, was sentenced to nine months in jail and four years of probation after he was found guilty of burglary in the second degree and for theft of copper, two class C felonies.
Smith will be sentenced on Sept. 14 to coincide White’s release, per a special request by her attorneys.
