Married man who stole girlfriend's gun gets no break on prison term

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A married man wasn't punished too severely when he was sent to prison for stealing his girlfriend's gun, a state Superior Court panel concluded Thursday. Investigators said Johnny Lee Bowie took that pistol after spending the night at the woman's apartment. They also said he stole at least $2,000 in cash from her closet when she went out to get them breakfast. In any case, the state court opinion by Senior Judge James J. Fitzgerald III indicates that, as boyfriends go, Bowie just isn't a keeper.

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Fitzgerald's court looked into the case when Bowie, 42, appealed his theft and illegal possession of firearms convictions and the 5- to 10-year prison term he received from Allegheny County Judge Anthony M. Mariani. This was largely a he said/she said case, except the prosecution backed its claims with text messages.

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The tale began when Bowie and the woman awoke at her place on the morning of April 26, 2014. The woman claimed she left to buy both of them breakfast and returned to find Bowie, her cash and her 9 mm pistol gone. Prosecutors presented as evidence a series of text messages the woman claimed she had with Bowie. When she asked him to return her money and gun, he replied, "I'll be back, I promise...I'll explain," court records state. Bowie later offered to pay her back at the rate of $250 every two weeks, according to the texts. During his non-jury trial, Bowie claimed the woman was lying. She was trying to get back at him because he told her he was married, he contended. He also insisted the texts were fake and that he had left his phone behind at the woman's apartment. "They look like real messages," he testified, "but they wasn't from me." Mariani convicted him anyway.

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