Portales man convicted in theft

A 63-year-old Portales man was convicted by a jury Friday of receiving property stolen from the city of Clovis.

Thomas Campbell faces three years in prison and a maximum fine of $5,000 on a charge of receiving or disposing of stolen property valued over $2,500, according to a press release from the district attorney’s office.

In 2007, Campbell made an offer to buy seven steel tanks from the city for a bio-diesel plant he was designing in Dimmitt, Texas.

While the city was considering the offer, it was learned the tanks had already been taken to Dimmitt and a further investigation revealed the tanks had been resold to a third-party and were being used at a biodiesel plant there, the release said.