Samantha Hinchman of Bradford was found guilty by a McKean County jury earlier this year after prosecutors said she orchestrated the theft from the victim’s Orchard Apartments home in 2024.
The victim and Hinchman had been communicating before making plans for her to spend the night at his apartment on Feb. 5, 2024, according to trial testimony.
After arriving, Hinchman claimed she needed to babysit in another apartment but urged the victim to leave his apartment door unlocked, prosecutors said. The blind man later testified that after exchanging text messages with Hinchman throughout the night and into the next day, he fell asleep with the door unlocked.
When he woke up, three guitars he regularly kept in the same place inside his apartment were gone, according to prosecutors.
Jurors viewed surveillance video showing Hinchman and co-defendant Justin Anderson leaving the apartment with the guitars, prosecutors said. Another resident testified he unknowingly gave the pair a ride around Bradford after Hinchman asked him for one.
Anderson later sold two of the guitars to a music store in Jamestown, investigators explained. The owner learned they had been stolen, canceled the payment, and turned the instruments over to Bradford City Police. The guitars were valued at about $3,950.
Hinchman was sentenced to serve six to 24 months in state prison on Tuesday, June 30, the McKean County District Attorney’s Office announced. She was also ordered to pay restitution and comply with additional court-ordered conditions.
Two of the three stolen guitars have been recovered, but the third guitar and its case remain missing, prosecutors said.
Anyone with information about the missing instrument is asked to contact the McKean County District Attorney’s Office at 814-887-3312 or Bradford City Police by calling 911.
Anderson previously pleaded guilty to felony theft. Hinchman was convicted of felony theft in January, while jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on a conspiracy charge.
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