PENNINGTON COUNTY (trfnews.i234.me) — An Emerado, North Dakota, man has been sentenced in Pennington County District Court after authorities say he helped steal more than $10,000 worth of irrigation pipes near St. Hilaire.
Richard William Paulson, 35, received a 19-month prison sentence for aiding and abetting felony theft over $5,000. He must also submit a DNA sample and pay $210 in fines and fees. The state has 30 days to file a restitution certificate, with an equal period for defense objections.
According to court documents, the theft involved roughly 109 sections of aluminum irrigation pipe stolen from farmland near 120th Street Southeast and Highway 32. The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office began investigating on August 27 after a property owner reported suspicious vehicles and missing pipes.
The caller told deputies he saw a man, later identified as Paulson, leaving the property in a Jeep. Paulson claimed he had been fishing there and requested permission to retrieve a van. After he left, the owner discovered the irrigation pipes were gone and provided the license plate to deputies.
Deputies later found multiple 30- and 40-foot sections of aluminum pipe loaded on a semi-trailer. A Minnesota State Patrol trooper stopped Paulson on Highway 32 in Thief River Falls. Paulson denied stealing the pipes but admitted he had been on the property several times that week.
Investigators also spoke with an employee at Evans Scrap and Steel, who said Paulson and another man brought in pipe a week earlier. Facebook messages allegedly showed Paulson discussing the sale of 40-foot sections and later instructing a contact to “make them disappear.” Security footage reportedly depicted Robert Fred Fish, 31, of Drayton, N.D., delivering similar pipes to the business. A warrant remains active for Fish’s arrest.
Investigators determined the stolen pipe was worth between $10,900 and $16,350. Paulson later admitted that he and Fish sold the sections for about $1,770 and split the money, saying he was broke and “didn’t mean for the thefts to occur.”
I’m Chris Harper reporting for TRF News.
