 A Springfield woman has pleaded guilty to stealing toilet paper that had been intended for the poor.
The rolls purloined by Tamika Brownlee, who will celebrate her 35th birthday on Saturday, were among an estimated 10,000 taken from a trailer parked at St. Martin de Porres Center at 1725 South Grand Ave. E. last summer. Schoolchildren and Illinois National Bank employees had collected the paper in hopes of providing relief to the disadvantaged as part of an effort dubbed TP The Town.
Brownlee, who has stolen stuff before, took a plea bargain for felony theft on Thursday that came with a 4 ½ year sentence, which isn’t a severe as it might seem, given that she was already serving more than five years for retail theft (aka shoplifting) in an unrelated case. The toilet paper swipe won’t add any additional time behind bars.
Court documents don’t indicate whether Brownlee snatched the paper with intent to distribute or for personal use, but she was not alone. Authorities say that an unknown number of people were, apparently, unable to wait for the toilet paper to be distributed through proper channels and so helped themselves after breaking into the locked trailer filled with fluffy whiteness. But a lot went missing, with an estimated 10,000 rolls disappearing overnight, according to media reports. Brownlee was charged after she ‘fessed up, authorities say.
Still hoping to get his slate wiped clean is Roderick Chester, who was charged with misdemeanor theft and, like Brownlee, reportedly confessed.
Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2015.
