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Thefts add up to a life in prison

Andre McGirt's purse theft ring was last straw in a criminal career.

By JOSE CARDENAS, Times Staff Writer
Published October 5, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Andre McGirt faced the same judge for the first time in 1983.

Andre Cortez McGirt is going to prison for the rest of his life for stealing purses.

McGirt had a string of violent crimes in his past, but ultimately it was the nonviolent thefts from women across Pinellas County in 2004 that put him away for good on Thursday.

At the request of prosecutors, Pinellas County Senior Judge Crockett Farnell deemed the 45-year-old McGirt a violent career criminal.

Farnell noted Thursday that he was wearing the same robe he wore in 1983 when he presided over an attempted murder case involving McGirt.

"It's a shame his life went this way," Farnell said. "He's obviously an intelligent individual based on the way these offenses took place."

In August, a jury found McGirt guilty of a racketeering charge involving 44 felonies and one misdemeanor stemming from six purse thefts and a burglary to a residence.

Defense attorney Dino Michaels argued the crimes were "offenses of opportunity."

"Consider the nature of the cases," said Michaels, who said he will appeal. "There's no violence involved."

But before the purse thefts, prosecutors argued, McGirt had accumulated 15 felonies and 12 misdemeanors. Except for one, they all happened in Pinellas County.

McGirt's first burglary was in 1979 when he was 17.

"He decided that this was going to be his lifestyle," said Assistant State Attorney Rene Bauer.

In 1981, McGirt committed a robbery, a grand theft and three burglaries. He got a four-year sentence.

In 1983, when he was out of prison, McGirt shot a St. Petersburg store clerk in the back during an armed robbery. He spent 14 years in prison for attempted murder.

In 2003, McGirt was sentenced to three more years for another burglary and grand theft.

But he was out of prison by 2004. And on June 1 that year, the purse thefts started in affluent neighborhoods from St. Pete Beach to Belleair.

Some of the victims were women who left their cars unattended while they dropped off kids at day care. McGirt stole the purses, and his wife, Jennifer McGirt, forged checks at banks, prosecutors said.

One victim was Gail O'Connor, a Dunedin tennis instructor whose purse was stolen from the Belleair Recreation Center.

O'Connor was giving lessons to children when she said she saw a white car park by her Honda Element. The white car drove away. Later, she discovered her purse missing.

Because of hurricanes in 2004, O'Connor said authorities were urging people to carry extra credit cards, cash and personal items in case of evacuations.

Her purse had three credit cards, $300 and personal items including a World War I pin belonging to a friend.

"I quickly drove home," O'Connor said outside of court. "I already had calls from credit card companies saying they had been spending freely."

O'Connor said she felt sorry for the burglars at first because they used the credit cards to buy food, not televisions or stereos.

But St. Petersburg police Detective Robert Prescott told O'Connor that McGirt was a career criminal making his money by stealing purses instead of getting a job.

Another victim, Toni Walsh, was making a stop at Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg when Andre McGirt snagged her purse from her Jaguar, said Assistant State Attorney Richard Ripplinger.

A few days later, Christina McDowell was dropping off her child at St. Jude Cathedral in her Yukon sports utility vehicle when McGirt smashed her window.

The couple went to a GTE Credit Union to forge a check, Jennifer McGirt said in court documents. She said she felt uneasy and the couple went home.

They were arrested by St. Petersburg police detectives who had pulled together the cases from throughout the county.

After testifying against Andre McGirt, Jennifer McGirt, 25, was sentenced to five years in prison and 10 years of probation.

Two other accomplices, Michelle Gramley and William Reynolds, each got probation.

Prosecutors asked for $7,800 in restitution for seven victims, three credit card companies and a bank.

"I believe in correction. I believe in improving," O'Connor said outside of court. "This guy is not interested in improving."

Jose Cardenas can be reached at jcardenas@sptimes.com or 727 445-4224.

[Last modified October 4, 2007, 23:59:22]