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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, August 21, 2009

'Freeway Jimmy' gets 10-year term for stealing copper from H-1/H-2 lighting

Advertiser Staff

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

James "Freeway Jimmy" Taylor

Advertiser file photo

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James B. “Freeway Jimmy” Taylor, leader of a gang of thieves that stripped hundreds of thousands of dollars of copper wiring from freeway lighting systems, drew a 10-year prison sentence yesterday morning from Circuit Judge Karen Ahn.

Taylor earlier pleaded guilty to three of four charges brought against him last year. Ahn sentenced him yesterday to serve concurrent 10-year prison terms for criminal conspiracy, racketeering and money laundering.
Taylor’s wife, Regina Foster, who handled the finances of the copper theft gang, earlier drew the same 10-year prison sentence from Ahn.
Prosecutors said the group struck more than 12 sites on the H-1 and H-2 freeways, some more than once, stripping out 72,000 pounds of copper wiring worth more than $563,000.
The metal was sold at recycling centers and some of the the proceeds were used to finance methamphetamine habits, according to the state.