Taney County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey M. Merrell announced today that JAMES L. SMITH, dob: 11/13/1958 of Forsyth, Missouri was sentenced to six years in the Missouri Department of Corrections by Taney County Circuit Judge Mark Orr for the class C felony of receiving stolen property as a prior and persistent felony offender. Probation was denied. On February 4, 2010, Griffith Bail Bonds in Forsyth, Missouri was broken into. Electronics and other items were stolen from the business. Through investigation by Chief Mike Womack of the Forsyth Police Department and Detective Rick Hill of the Taney County Sheriff’s Department, JAMES L. SMITH was developed as a suspect in the stolen property. Officers made contact with JAMES L. SMITH at his residence and were able to recover some of the items stolen from the business. Smith admitted to officers that he intended to sell the stolen computer and two-way radios he possessed. He was later charged by the prosecutor’s office with one count of the class c felony of receiving stolen property for being in possession of these stolen items.