Humboldt man sentenced for criminal mischief linked to copper wire on irrigation pivots
Investigators estimated damage in excess of $32,000
By News Channel NebraskaPAWNEE CITY - Rickey Long, 41, of Humboldt was sentenced in Pawnee County to 36 months probation for criminal mischief involving the stripping of copper wire from irrigation pivots.
Investigators say wire was missing from pivots owned by farmers Richard Binder, Lynn Binder, Greg Kreuger and Steven Schaardt in 2022. An arrest affidavit estimated damages above $32,000.
Judge Rick Schreiner did not order restitution payments as a part of probation.
Long was previously sentenced to probation for attempted possession in Richardson County.
In the irrigation pivot case, deputies were investigating theft of copper wire in a 30-mile radius around Nemaha and Pawnee counties. Arrests were made after a farmer alerted deputies to cigarette butts under a pivot that had been damaged. The Nebraska State Patrol Crime Laboratory linked DNA on the cigarette to a DNA swab taken from Long on a court order.
A search of Long’s residence in Humboldt yielded copper wire and aluminum sheathing.
Long is scheduled for pretrial in Nemaha County on Sept. 25
https://rivercountry.newschannelnebraska.com/story/46974199/affidavit-describes-meth-distribution-at-humboldt-robberies-in-kansas