Court dates set for Web sales suspects

* A couple accused of stealing items and selling them on the Internet had two different court dates set by Circuit Court Judge Lee Russell.

Kerri Neal has a trial date of Nov. 2 while her husband, Troy Neal, had his case continued until Nov. 5.

Both have been charged with theft of property over $1,000. They are accused of lifting thousands of dollars worth of weight loss and make-up items from the shelves of area Walmarts and selling them on the popular Internet auction site eBay.

Kerri faces related charges in other counties as well. She is represented by Murfreesboro attorney Will Fraley while Troy is represented by Bedford County's public defenders office.

Cooperation between Shelbyville and Tullahoma investigators resulted in the arrest of the two, who were allegedly stealing large amounts of Alli weight loss products and Olay make-up from the shelves of Tullahoma's and Manchester's Walmarts, as well as Shelbyville's and others in the region.

According to Detective Sgt. Brian Crews of the Shelbyville Police Department the pair, who have allegedly confessed to the thefts, would go to the Walmart stores between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. to steal the products.

After receiving information from Tullahoma police, Crews checked the eBay site and narrowed his search to within 10 miles of Shelbyville to see if the couple were selling the stolen products online.

Crews found an eBay user named "sweet-sassy-2" and Detective Charles Merlo also checked MySpace and found that Kerri Neal was using the same user name. Photos on Kerri's MySpace page were also compared to video surveillance of the Walmart thefts, which Crews' report said confirmed their suspicion that the Neals were involved.

Close to 60 bottles of the weight loss drug were recovered when the pair was arrested and some of the items had already been sold on eBay.

* A Huntland man has a disposition day set in his case related to a two-year-old break-in.

Oct. 16 is the day that Adam Keith Stewart, 26, of Huntland must decide if he wants to have a jury trial or make a plea in his case.

Stewart was indicted last month on charges of aggravated burglary and aggravated assault. He is free under $10,000 bond and is represented by Shelbyville attorney John Norton.

According to Detective Brian Farris of the Bedford County Sheriff's Department, Stewart was identified as a suspect in a Jan. 31, 2007 home invasion at a Thompson Creek Road home.

A woman at the home told authorities at the time she was sleeping when she heard someone kick open the front door. She got out of bed and "a man came down the hallway with a rifle and put it to her head," and repeated obscenities, she said.

Two small children were in the home at the time of the break-in, the report also read.

* An Antioch man was sentenced to eight years in prison Thursday.

Joseph Valentine Hill, 44, was charged with DUI (second offense) and seven counts of aggravated assault stemming from an incident that occurred on April 7.

Hill struck three vehicles while driving toward Shelbyville on U.S. 41-A South, sending four people to the hospital and gave three other individuals back injuries.

He was originally charged with three counts of aggravated assault and four counts of vehicular assault.

* A man was also declared a habitual motor vehicle offender in one hearing and was sentenced for multiple traffic offenses in another.

Stacy Carl Ortel will serve at least 30 percent of a two-year, six-month sentence for DUI (seventh offense) driving on a revoked license (fourth offense), leaving the scene of an accident and violation of implied consent.

Ortel was also declared a habitual motor vehicle offender by Russell and will not be allowed to drive for the next three years until he petitions the court to have his license reinstated.