WEST VIRGINA EMPLOYEE WHO STOLE COMPUTERS FROM HARRISON COUNTY SENTENCED WBOY-TV – News for Clarksburg, Fairmont, Morgantown, West Virginia:

Sentence Handed Down For Former Harrison County Employee Accused of Stealing

After pleading to lesser charges, Brian Bish was sentenced to probation.

CLARKSBURG -- A former Harrison County employee will serve one year of probation after pawning county property during his lunch hour.

The grand jury indicted Brian Bish, 43, on one count of embezzlement, but on Wednesday in Harrison County Circuit Court, he pleaded guilty to petit larceny and obtaining money by false pretenses.

Police said Bish, who worked as a computer technician, stole $14,000 worth of county-owned computers and pawned them at three local shops to help pay for his gambling habit.

He was originally arrested in April of 2006, but an investigation into the crime dated back to 2005.

Judge Thomas Bedell sentenced Bish to one year of probation.

If Bish breaks the terms of his probation, he will face two consecutive years in jail.

Bish will not have to pay any fines, but he must continue to receive counseling for his gambling addiction.

Because some of the computers stolen were from the prosecutor's office, a special prosecutor had to be brought in from Monongalia County.