The last of a group of co-defendants who stole copper wire from St. Paul streetlights over several months in 2023 — costing the city more than $200,000 to repair — has been sentenced to probation, as others were before him.

Eh Tha Blay, 26, of St. Paul, was the last of four co-defendants sentenced in Ramsey County District Court in connection with the case, which included allegations the copper wire was sold to recycling facilities.

Theft of copper wire from streetlights has skyrocketed in recent years, especially in St. Paul. Restoring lighting from wire theft cost the city $2 million in 2024, up from $1.2 million in 2023, and $453,172 in 2022, according to St. Paul Public Works.

The 2025 tally is not yet available because not all work records are fully accessible due to the July cyber security attack on the city of St. Paul’s computer networks, Lisa Hiebert, public works spokesperson, said this week.

Eh Blay reached a plea deal with the prosecution and admitted to aiding and abetting third-degree damage to property. Six other charges, all felonies, were dismissed as part of the deal, which called for no additional jail time beyond the 129 days he had spent in custody after his arrest. A 235-day jail sentence was stayed for two years, during which time he’ll be on probation.

Eh Blay was also sentenced Friday in a separate case that involved copper wire stolen from a light pole in the city’s North End neighborhood in January 2024. He pleaded guilty to possession of theft tools, a felony, and the judge gave him three years of probation as part of a plea deal.

As part of his two sentences, which will run concurrent, he must complete 40 hours of community service in the Karen community, according to court records.

Other co-defendants

Eh Blay’s co-defendants were sentenced previously.

Paw Hkee La, 23, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft in February 2025 and received no additional jail time beyond the 72 days she had already served.

Kyaw Klay, 42, of St. Paul, was sentenced in April to three years of probation after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting energy or telecom damage. He had served 11 days in custody. He also was given a stay of imposition, which means the conviction will become a misdemeanor if he successfully completes probation.

Aye Mae, 44, of St. Louis Park, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting first-degree damage to property and in May was given a stayed 360-day jail sentence, with six days of custody credit, and put on probation for two years.

In July 2024, charges were dismissed against Nay Thar as part of a “global resolution” plea agreement that involved one other copper wire theft case. He pleaded guilty to felony aiding and abetting first-degree damage to property in connection with copper wire stolen from 30 streetlights in the area of Mississippi River Boulevard and Summit Avenue in January 2024. He was given a one-year stayed prison sentence and three years of probation. He had served 93 days in custody.

‘City of St. Paul Public Works’ stamp

According to the criminal complaints against the group of five:

Police received information in January 2024 from an informant that Kyaw Klay organized a crew who went out and damaged streetlights, removing wire from them. Kyaw Klay and Paw La then sold the wire to recycling facilities, including Dem-Con Metal Recycling in Blaine, the informant said.

Dem-Con paid about $3 per pound for copper wiring that had been removed from its insulation and $2 per pound for such wiring that was stamped with “City of St. Paul Public Works” on its insulation, according to the complaint.

Officers conducted surveillance and saw Kyaw Klay and two others went to Dem-Con on Feb. 5 and sold 127 pounds of copper for $387.

An undercover officer made arrangements for Kyaw Klay to sell “stolen” copper wire to Dem-Con on his behalf, with the officer telling the man he would get half the money from the sale. The officer was provided with copper wire from the department’s property room that had “City of St. Paul Public Works” stamped on its insulation.

The officer went with Kyaw Klay and Paw La on Feb. 7 to Dem-Con. An employee accepted stripped copper wires that Kyaw Klay brought and the undercover officer’s wire marked with “City of St. Paul,” and Kyaw Klay wasn’t asked to show his ID.

The informant previously told police that Kyaw Klay collected the stolen wire in a Toyota Camry and police obtained a warrant to put a tracking device on the car. On Feb. 16 about 12:45 a.m., officers tracked the car to the area of Mississippi River Boulevard and Dayton Avenue.

Officers on surveillance saw several people cutting wire from streetlights on the Marshall Avenue-Lake Street Bridge and later from streetlights near Marshall Avenue and Mississippi River Boulevard. About 25 streetlights were found damaged, with wires cut and removed, in the area of the Marshall Avenue-Lake Street Bridge. The estimate to repair them was about $125,000.

Police stopped the Toyota Camry and identified Kyaw Klay as the driver and Paw La as the front seat passenger. Eh Blay and Aye Mae were the backseat passengers.

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Police obtained another tracker warrant for a different Toyota Camry. Officers saw that car parked near the Highland Aquatic Center at 12:20 a.m. Feb. 23 and found 17 damaged streetlights around the pool with the wire cut from them. It was estimated to cost $85,000 to repair those lights.

Police pulled over the Camry, and identified the driver as Nay Thar and the passenger as Eh Blay.

There was cut copper wire at Eh Blay’s feet. Police arrested the pair and Eh Blay told investigators he makes money by following friends who pull copper wire from light poles. He said no one in the car stole wire that night and he had tools because he fixes vehicles.