Second Guilty Plea in Sky Harbor Luggage Thefts; Keith King's Wife Already Sentenced to 3.5 Years in Prison

Keith King, the less-than-better half of a marriage built on stolen luggage, pleaded guilty today to a raft of charges that should put keep him away from the airport for a while. King's wife, Stacy King, was sentenced last month to three-and-a-half years in prison following her own guilty plea...

By Ray Stern

September 2, 2010

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Keith King, the less-than-better half of a marriage built on stolen luggage, pleaded guilty today to a raft of charges that should put keep him away from the airport for a while.

King's wife, Stacy King, was sentenced last month to three-and-a-half years in prison following her own guilty plea in the case in June. She was also ordered to pay back $86,614 in restitution to victims.

After cops noticed Keith King kiping bags at Sky Harbor last October, a raid of the Kings' house uncovered about 1,000 pieces of luggage, stacked floor to ceiling. Police believe many of the items taken from the luggage were sold at garage sales.

Keith King pled guilty to two counts of burglary, one count of theft, one count of drug possession and one count of trafficking stolen property, court officials say. That's a heck of a lot less than the 44 counts he was charged with originally, but one more than pressed against his wife.

Our guess: Stacy will be visiting him in prison long after she's released.

Keith King will be sentenced by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Paul McMurdie at 8:30 a.m. on October 1.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.