Ex-UVa employee avoids jail in library thefts

A former Clemons Library employee who pawned his employer’s electronics won’t serve jail time.Judge Cheryl Higgins sentenced Bruce Eugene Johnson on Wednesday in Albemarle County Circuit Court to a suspended three-year prison sentence, three years of good behavior and $5,736 in restitution to a local pawnshop.Police had accused Johnson of pawning computer, video and audio equipment between May 2008 and August 2009.The equipment, which belonged to the University of Virginia library, was valued at about $5,000.Johnson, 37, testified Wednesday that he had been paying spousal support and facing bankruptcy and foreclosure at the time he took the items.“This was a bad mistake,” Johnson said. “ … I feel truly sorry for the crimes I committed.”According to court records, Johnson pleaded guilty in June to embezzlement and larceny with the intent to sell.Johnson said he had been working in the media lab at Clemons and is pursuing his interest in cinema and media technology through online courses and short-term jobs.Darby Lowe, deputy commonwealth’s attorney, said in court that Johnson had no prior criminal record. Higgins suggested that Johnson’s actions were a mistake and an aberration.