Tennessee man sentenced to 10 years in cargo thefts

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - A Tennessee businessman was sentenced to 10 years in prison with no parole for leading a multi-state cargo theft ring.

Sixty-year-old Earl Stanley Nunn, of Memphis, also was ordered Friday to pay $3.5 million in restitution during sentencing in federal court in Springfield.

Nunn, owner of Nu World Trucking, pleaded guilty in July to theft of an interstate shipment. Prosecutors say drivers would take tractor trucks to truck stops and service stations near interstate highways. When they found unattended semi-trailers, they would hitch them to their trucks and drive off. The contents were generally sold in Chicago and Detroit.

Thefts were committed in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Nunn's nephew and son also pleaded guilty in related cases.