£27,000 Library fine

Jul 10 2008

A US man accused of borrowing hundreds of books and DVDs from libraries around the Denver area and then trying to sell them will be doing all his library borrowing from behind bars from now on.

Denver prosecutors said 34-year-old Thomas Pilaar was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay 53,549 US dollars (£27,000) in restitution. He pleaded guilty in May.

Authorities have recovered about 500 of the estimated 1,400 books and DVDs Pilaar borrowed from area libraries. Authorities were tipped off by a woman who recently bought books through an online listing site and noticed the library identification stamps.