[MSN] New Mexico. UNM Police issued warrants Monday for five people suspected of stealing library books from universities and colleges and selling them to bookstores at other campuses.

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Suspects at large in book-theft ring
By: Jeremy Hunt
Posted: 12/5/07
by Jeremy Hunt

Daily Lobo


UNM Police issued warrants Monday for five people suspected of stealing
library books from universities and colleges and selling them to bookstores
at other campuses.

The five people are part of a theft ring of as many as 12 people, said Lt.
Pat Davis, UNM Police spokesman.

The department confirmed the group sold about $3,000 worth of stolen books
to the UNM and CNM bookstores, Davis said. 

"This is their only job, and they've been doing this for at least a year or
so," he said. "We're just not sure how far-reaching this actually is and how
many institutions may actually be involved." 

The five people are not affiliated with UNM, Davis said. Arrest warrants
were issued for Lonny Sherman, 32; Lydia Yazzie, 33; Joseph Garcia, 32;
Brian Largo, 32; and Erik Bahe, 20.

UNM Police began its investigation in October when it was notified that the
CNM bookstore had been sold books from the Health Sciences Library, Davis
said.

"As a routine audit of books they had bought, they discovered some that had
medical library tags on them," he said. 

Based on witness reports, the group has used money from book sales to pay
for parties, vehicles and vacations to Mexico, Davis said. He declined to
elaborate or say how the department got that information.

So far, the department found that 30 books were stolen from the Health
Sciences Library, 12 from CNM's library and a couple from the University of
Texas-El Paso, he said.

The group may also be active at NMSU, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and
schools in California, he said. 

The five people who were issued arrest warrants face felony and misdemeanor
charges, depending on their level of involvement, Davis said. The charges
include conspiracy, receiving stolen 

property, criminal damage to property, money laundering, burglary and
larceny, he said.

Davis said members of the group have worked in libraries and bookstores, so
they know what books are valuable and where to find security features. 

He said they would tear out pages and bindings with security features and
then rebind the books.

"These are professional folks that had the equipment to do that," he said.
"They literally destroyed the books and put them back together to make them
look new again."

Davis said the group will be 

difficult to track down because the people involved travel often. 

"They're from all over. They met here in Albuquerque in some form or
fashion," he said. "Most recently, they've resided in Albuquerque."

Davis said the department provided information to the other universities and
colleges that may be involved.

"We're still in those early stages," he said. "UNM surely has the most info
about this particular group." 

He said the Bookstore has a system to help prevent buying stolen books, such
as requiring a UNM ID for buyback. 

However, the group asked UNM students, faculty and staff to sell the books
for them, Davis said. He said the Bookstore identified suspicious
transactions from previous book buybacks.

"If a former student who was a history major is suddenly bringing back
graduate surgical books, that raises a red flag," he said. 

Book buyback for this semester begins today.

Davis said anyone who is asked to sell a book by someone they don't know
should call 

UNM Police.

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