Three people, including two Indian-Americans, were produced in court on Tuesday on charges of buying and selling stolen beer worth $20,000 in the US state of Ohio, according to local media reports. Ketan kumar Patel and Piyush kumar Patel, two local convenience store operators in Youngstown, Ohio, were indicted by a Mahoning County grand jury on charges of accepting stolen beer, as per a report.
According to prosecutors, Ronald Pezuolo, a 37-year-old employed by RL Lipton Distributors, stole and sold the beer between August and October last year, the report said. When operators at the distributor noticed the missing product, they contacted the police, after which a surveillance operation was launched to track down the beer.
Assistant Prosecutor Mike Yakovan said the estimated value of the stolen beer was approximately $20,000. The news channel WKBN-TV reported that Pezzuolo faces a charge of grand larceny, while Piyushkumar and Ketankumar face charges of receiving stolen property. A jury trial is set for 1 May, it added.