Thief who stole two newspaper delivery cars in two states sentenced to prison

LACONIA — A driver accused of stealing a delivery vehicle containing copies of The Laconia Daily Sun was sentenced to state prison in Belknap County Superior Court on Wednesday morning.

Shakri Hines, 33, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty — agreeing to the terms of a negotiated plea deal — to one charge of theft of $1,501 or more, a felony, before Judge Elizabeth Leonard on Wednesday. 

Shackled and clad in jailhouse orange, a deputy with the Belknap County Sheriff’s Office led Hines into the courtroom at about 10:15 a.m. on July 16. He was represented by Public Defender Michael Oropollo.

“I plead guilty, your honor,” Hines said Wednesday morning. 

Leonard sentenced Hines to two to four years in the New Hampshire State Prison, with 97 days of pre-trial confinement credit, to be served concurrently to a prison sentence at Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown. He’s serving a 12-year sentence there for burglary and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle. 

Hines is ordered to have no contact with The Laconia Daily Sun, Circle K or a victim referred to in court documents as M.F. He’s ordered to pay $13.99 in restitution to Laconia Circle K, $350 to the Concord Monitor and $2,626.35 to M.F. 

Upon release in Maryland, Hines’ New Hampshire penalty is to be suspended. His sentence expiration date is June 6, 2030, though court documents show he could be released as early as Nov. 24, 2028, based on good time earned.

According to a secret indictment filed in Belknap County Superior Court in October 2023, on Aug. 3 of that year, Hines obtained a 2016 Toyota RAV 4 SUV owned by M.F.

Two other secret indictments charged Hines with theft after two prior convictions, a felony, and disobeying a police officer, a misdemeanor. County attorneys dropped those charges. 

That day, Hines stole a delivery vehicle containing about 2,000 copies of a Thursday edition of The Laconia Daily Sun from its driver in the first hour of the morning at a Laconia Circle K. He made it as far as Fairfield, Connecticut, where police said he abandoned the vehicle and stole another car — coincidentally, that vehicle also was doing newspaper delivery. 

According to Fairfield police, the second vehicle was later recovered in New Jersey around 9 a.m. 

The delivery driver called Laconia police before 1 a.m. to report their vehicle stolen from the Circle K on Union Avenue, Police Chief Matt Canfield said at the time. Another officer observed the car traveling along Court Street toward Belmont and initiated a pursuit, but relented after they reached high speeds. 

The Laconia Daily Sun is delivered by contractors of The Concord Monitor.

Working together with the police, the owner of the vehicle used GPS to track it. At a gas station in Fairfield, Hines abandoned it and hijacked another car, which was recovered in New Jersey around 9 a.m., Fairfield Det. George Buckmir told The Laconia Daily Sun in 2023. New Jersey State Police took Hines into custody.

Assistant County Attorney Samantha Mercier, who prosecuted the case, said another state has a detainer for Hines, so it’s not clear if he’ll immediately return to Maryland to serve his sentence, or if he’ll appear in court elsewhere.