Lehigh Acres man gets prison in construction theft case; second suspect's case still active
One of two Lehigh Acres men charged in a theft of plywood pleaded no contest while the case continues for the second man.
Elvis Fonseca Lara, 35, was charged with one count of dealing in stolen property, a second-degree felony, and Enrique Nava-Molina, 54, faced charges of dealing in stolen property, a second-degree felony and one count of trespassing on a construction site, a third-degree felony.
The theft occurred in September 2021 at a Lehigh Acres construction site watched by Lee County Sheriff's Office investigators.
Detectives with the Sheriff's Office Construction Special Investigations Unit and East District Criminal Investigations Division saw a truck enter the site after working hours on Sept. 9.
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The truck exited about 15 minutes later with a full bed of plywood sheets and was located by deputies at a home off Joel Avenue in Lehigh Acres where a Sheriff's Office report said Fonseca Lara and Nava-Molina were trying to sell the plywood.
Detectives examined the construction site and saw one of the plywood pallets had its plastic wrapping removed. They determined the amount of missing plywood matched the amount in the suspect's truck.
Investigators also confirmed distinguishing marks on the plywood matched the sheets in the suspects' possession.
Fonseca Lara appeared before Lee County Judge Margaret O. Steinbeck March 28 and was sentenced to 17 months in prison. He was credited with serving 201 days in jail and ordered to pay fines and fees of $525.
Fonseca Lara’s sentence is to run concurrent with two 36-month prison sentences, also running concurrently, on burglary of a structure and grand theft charges stemming from a March 2021 case. Fonseca Lara entered a no contest plea in that case and was adjudicated guilty on both counts.
A third charge against Nava-Molina and Fonseca Lara in the September 2021 case, grand theft from posted construction site, was filed as a no-information on insufficient evidence to file based on Florida law.
In that case the Sheriff’s Office was notified of a residential burglary where several kitchen appliances were removed from a business.
The burglary victim told detectives there was a GPS tracker installed in one of the stolen appliances and they pinged the tracker, quickly locating the stolen items in the area of 19th Street West in Lehigh Acres.
The GPS lead detectives to a home in the 3400 block of 19th and Fonseca Lara. There detectives discovered 20 water systems, including ones from the March 11 burglary, inside the garage along with numerous new construction materials in the backyard matching the description of stolen appliances from a string of six thefts beginning Jan. 19.
The charges against Nava-Molina, 53, include one count of dealing in stolen property, a second-degree felony and one count of trespassing on a construction site, a third-degree felony, and he will next be in court on May 12 for a pre-trial hearing.
Nava-Molina was sentenced in 2002 in Lee County Court on charges including burglary, grand theft, kidnapping, robbery with a gun or deadly weapon, aggravated battery and burglary assault from a 1999 case. He served 11 years of a 15-year state prison term.
Connect with breaking news reporter Michael Braun: MichaelBraunNP (Facebook), @MichaelBraunNP (Twitter) or mbraun@news-press.com.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Plywood in the suspects' truck was traced to the construction site
