Local woman sentenced to 14 years for burglarizing upscale homes
By: Nancy Cook
Updated: October 18, 2012
A woman who targeted homes in upscale Shreveport neighborhoods was sentenced today in Caddo Parish District Court to a total of 14 years in prison.
Shantel Flash, 41, entered guilty pleas today to five counts of illegal possession of stolen things and two counts of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling.
Judge Craig Marcotte sentenced Flash to the maximum of 10 years in prison on each count of illegal possession of stolen things, with the sentences to be served concurrently, and to the maximum of 12 years each for simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling and ordered those sentences served concurrently. Two years of the sentences were ordered served consecutively, totaling the 14 years in prison.
Flash, arrested in August 2011, was implicated in a multi-state crime wave, after using a stolen ipad to sell some of the loot she stole on Craig's List and using her personal cell phone number.
Shreveport Police detectives had received information from law enforcement authorities in Orange Beach, Alabama regarding a residential burglary they were working in their jurisdiction.
The victim in Alabama apparently left home for a few hours and when she returned, discovered approximately $10,000 worth of jewelry was missing, in addition to two computers and an Apple iPad.
Several days after the burglary, the victim received an email notification on her Apple iPhone, which was linked to her stolen iPad, showing a response to a Craigslist advertisement.
At the end of the e-mail, the name Shantel Flash appeared as well as a cell phone number which was later confirmed to be Flash's cell phone.
Shreveport detectives immediately began following up on the lead for Alabama authorities and quickly discovered Flash had pawned several pieces of expensive jewelry at a local business.
Investigators photographed the pawned items and the victim in Orange Beach positively identified them as being stolen from her home earlier this month. Armed with this information, Shreveport police contacted Flash at her then residence in the 12000 block of Ashland Way and took her into custody without incident for one count of illegal possession of stolen things relative to the jewelry items stolen from Alabama.
In addition, detectives secured a search warrant for Flash's home on Ashland Way and ultimately located more items stolen from the Orange Beach burglary. At the same time, police found items stolen from two residential burglaries in Shreveport - one on St. Charles Boulevard and one on St. Bernard Drive.
During their search, investigators seized a quantity of illegal narcotics from a rental vehicle and Flash was charged with one count each of possession of a Schedule II narcotic and possession of a Schedule III narcotic.
Flash was sentenced for the crimes committed in Shreveport.
