LDS Temple thief pleads guilty

(Courtesy: Rexburg Standard Journal)

REXBURG — The former BYU-Idaho student who was accused of a string of thefts, including from the LDS Rexburg Temple, has pleaded guilty to several counts of the crime.

Tylon Jay Rankin, 23, a former BYU-Idaho student was arrested for committing a series of thefts in Rexburg over several months. He recently plead guilty during a pre-trial conference to two counts of grand theft, a felony, and one count of petit theft, a misdemeanor.

As part of his guilty plea, Rankin admitted to Judge Gregory W. Moeller that he had stolen cash and transaction cards from individuals at both Brigham Young University-Idaho and the LDS Temple in Rexburg.

He told Moeller that he also stole money from one individual after seeing his wallet in an open lock.

“I saw it in a locker and I took it out of the locker,” Rankin said.

He admitted one major motivation for the thefts was “a little bit of financial stress.”

Curtis Smith, Rankin’s attorney, said Rankin’s guilty plea was the result of a plea agreement. Originally he had been charged with four counts including forgery, a felony, but in accordance with the agreement this count was dropped.

Smith also told Moeller that the state of Idaho would recommend no more than retained jurisdiction. Moeller explained to Rankin that retained jurisdiction means that instead of immediately serving his sentence, the court would retain jurisdiction over Rankin for up to a year, in which time Rankin could attend specialized treatment programs called riders.

In addition, the agreement stipulates that even without pleading guilty to forgery, he will still pay full restitution on all four counts.

Police originally arrested Rankin after police linked him to several reported thefts. On Nov. 25, police found Rankin laying carpet in the Gordon B. Hinckley building on the BYU-Idaho campus and asked him to report to the police department. According to the police report, Rankin cooperated with police and admitted to several thefts.

Working as a volunteer at the Rexburg LDS Temple, Rankin told police on Nov. 1 he noticed an open locker and stole, nearly $120 in $20 dollar bills. Later on Nov. 15, he told police he stole a credit card and forged his signature when making a purchase at Walmart.

On the same day the police found Rankin had also stolen nearly $100 in various bills from the temple cash drawer.

On Nov. 18, Madison County dispatch received a call from a Rexburg citizen, who had been contacted by Chase Bank about unauthorized credit card use. The resident had told police he accidentally left his wallet on the printer/copier in the Hinckley Building. Police officials said Rankin found the wallet and used it to spend $284.22 at Broulim’s on groceries.

Rankin later shredded the credit cards and threw the wallet between the Hinckley building and the parking lot.

This story was written by Rexburg Standard Journal Reporter Caleb Despain. It is used here with permission. This original story was published at www.uvsj.com. You the original story here.