Luxury Belt Theft From Montco Mall Leads To Prison After Gun Found

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA — A Philadelphia man who stole a luxury belt from a department store at a Montgomery County mall will be spending time in a state correctional facility after a recent guilty plea hearing in Norristown, but the jail time he got was not for shoplifting the clothing accessory.

Geraldo L. Banner, 31, was given 1-to-3 years behind bars by Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Rogers because the defendant had a stolen gun on him at the time of the shoplifting incident at the King of Prussia Mall this past spring.

Banner received his prison sentence after admitting to committing a third-degree felony: carrying a firearm without a license.

He also received two years' probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of retail theft.

Court records confirm Banner was sentenced on Sept. 12 by Rogers, who also ordered Banner to stay away from the Neiman Marcus store at the King of Prussia Mall, which is where the theft incident happened in March.

A report in the Mercury newspaper states that Banner was arrested by Upper Merion Township Police after officers were contacted by loss prevention agents at Neiman Marcus who reported that they had chased down Banner and detained him in the parking lot of the business, at which time they found the gun on him during a pat-down/safety check.

Police subsequently ran a check of the gun and found out that it has been reported stolen in Frederick County, Maryland, the report stated.

Banner also reportedly did not possess a license to carry the gun at the time of his arrest.

Records show that in exchange for the guilty plea, Rogers dismissed two charges each of receiving stolen property. One was felony-grade and the other a misdemeanor count.