HAMLET — Two men are facing criminal charges, accused of stealing wiring from a cellphone tower in eastern Richmond County.
According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a call regarding the cutting and theft of copper wire Thursday, Feb. 29 on Ponderosa Drive, north of Hamlet.
“Deputies spoke with a representative from AT&T at the tower and observed where copper wire had been cut and removed from the bottom of the tower, along with damage to the fence where it had been cut to make entry into the property,” reads a press release posted on the RCSO Facebook page March 4.
Deputies reportedly obtained surveillance video from the area and were able to identify two men — 45-year-old Jerry Neal Sweeney and 26-year-old Jeremy Wayne Sweeney, both of Hamlet — carrying a toolbox and coming from the dirt road where the tower is located.
The father-son duo reportedly were found at their nearby home on Ponderosa Drive. According to the sheriff’s office, one was outside burning the copper wire and the other was inside.
Each man was charged with a felony count of injury to property to obtain nonferrous metals and one misdemeanor count of first-degree trespassing and larceny.
Jeremy Sweeney was released on a $2,500 unsecured bond.
Online records with the Richmond County Jail and N.C. Court System show Jerry Sweeney is also facing one count each of: felony larceny; breaking and entering; larceny after breaking and entering; conspiracy to commit felony larceny; and obtaining property by false pretenses.
While the press release states Jerry Sweeney was held without bond, jail records show he is being held on a combined $300,000 secured bond.
They are scheduled to appear in court March 7.
Court records show Jerry Sweeney also has pending charges of felony larceny, obtaining property by false pretenses and injury to property to obtain nonferrous metals from 2023.
In that case, Jerry Sweeney is a accused of stealing “a large amount” of copper wiring from a building on Airport Road and selling 256 feet of copper to a scrap yard.
Click here to read that story.
Jeremy Sweeney has no other pending charges, and his only prior conviction is for consuming an alcoholic beverage under the age of 21, according to records with the N.C. Department of Adult Correction.
Records show Jerry Sweeney was convicted in 2021 on two counts of injury to property to obtain nonferrous metals in Stanly County. His probation was revoked and he was sentenced to three months behind bars.
Jerry Sweeney’s first conviction was in 2007 for misdemeanor larceny and unauthorized use of motor conveyance. His probation was revoked the following year, but he only served nine days.
In 2009, he was convicted of driving while impaired. Again, his probation was revoked the next year— when convicted of driving while license revoked — leading to 15 days behind bars.
Records show Jerry Sweeney was convicted of felony larceny in 2019. His probation was revoked in 2020 where he served less than six months of a minimum eight-month sentence. He wound up behind bars again on a three-month reimprison violation before his parole ended in March 2021.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
