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Guilty plea, probation, in suburban tinfoil heist

A man accused of using aluminum foil to scramble the credit card hardware at gas stations in East Dundee and Carpentersville in fall 2009 pleaded guilty on the eve of trial and was sentenced to two years probation.

Lawrence Bradley, 26, of the 12000 block of South Washington Avenue, Blue Island, also must pay a $1,205 fine as part of the plea deal, reached last Friday, according to court records.

Bradley was scheduled to have a bench trial Tuesday before Judge David Akemann.

Bradley pleaded guilty to felony theft, a crime with a top punishment of three years in prison, in exchange for prosecutors dismissing other burglary and theft charges, the most serious of which carried prison terms of up to seven years.

He and Lester A. Spruille, 26, of the 800 block of West 50th Place, Chicago, were arrested Sept. 28, 2009.

Police said the men used aluminum foil to cover antennas to scramble data signals at gas stations the Dundee Shell, 160 S. Dundee Ave., East Dundee and Kings Road Shell, 1400 Kings Road, Carpentersville.

The gas stations were unable run their credit cards, allowing the pair to buy $416 in cigarettes and other goods with fraudulent cards. They were arrested after a clerk at the Carpentersville station noticed the foil and became suspicious.

Spruille pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to three years probation.

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Lawrence Bradley
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