Pr. George's judge throws the book at library thief

A Baltimore woman got more than a hefty fine for stealing books from public libraries in Prince George's County.

On Monday, a Circuit Court jury took just one hour to convict Evelyn A. Whye, 52, of one count of aggregate theft over $1,000, State's Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks said.

During a span of three days in December 2008, Whye stole more than 100 textbooks from the Prince George's County public library system, prosecutors said. Whye checked out multiple copies of scientific manuals and medical texts, then sold the books, authorities said.

The books Whye stole were worth nearly $10,000, prosecutors said.

Circuit Court Judge Sean Wallace sentenced Whye, who was prosecuted by Assistant State's Attorney Doyle L. Niemann, to 15 years of incarceration, with all but one year suspended.

Whye was one of a group of 12 people who were indicted in November, 2009 for collectively stealing more than $90,000 worth of books from county libraries.

Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for Alsobrooks, said charges against one of the original 12 defendants were dropped after authorities determined she was not part of the scheme. Charges against the other defendants are pending, he said.