Looter gets 20 years for stealing $5,228 of TVs, cigarettes during Hurricane Harvey
The stolen items were valued at $5,228.
A man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for looting over $5,000 worth of TVs and cigarettes during Hurricane Harvey.
Thomas Gamelin, 38, was arrested and charged with burglary of a building after a Houston police unit was driving by a Walmart on Aug. 29, four days after Harvey roared ashore in Texas as a Category 4 storm. The storm hovered over Houston for days, dumping record-breaking rainfall on the city.
Officers saw Gamelin carrying a television out of the store. He was also captured on the store’s surveillance cameras.
![](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/hurricane-harvey-gty-jpo-170901_hpMain_2.jpg)
“Our city was in the midst of the worst natural disaster in its history, and the defendant saw that as the perfect opportunity to take advantage and try to make a profit,” Assistant District Attorney Joshua Raygor said in a statement. “While so many people were coming together to help others, Thomas Gamelin was off on his own looting.”
![](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/kingwood-texas-hurricane-harvey-ap-2-thg-180319_hpEmbed_11x7_992.jpg)
After a two-day trial, Gamelin was convicted by a jury. Since Gamelin was on parole for a drug conviction at the time of the incident, the judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
The stolen items were valued at $5,228.
![](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/harvey-hurricane-02-gty-jc-170830_hpEmbed_1_3x2_992.jpg)