Former Disney employee declares he's 'going to Disney' after avoiding jail following theft case
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}No you’re not, buddy.
A former Walt Disney World employee has been sentenced to a decade of probation and 250 hours of community service after pleading guilty to stealing costumes and props from Magic Kingdom, some of which he allegedly sold online.
On Tuesday, Patrick Spikes was served 10 years of probation, hundreds of community service hours and restitution, plus orders to stay away from Disney parks, WESH reports. The Winter Garden, Fla. man and his cousin Blaytin Taunton, also a former Disney World employee, were arrested in May 2019 for allegedly using their Disney IDs to sneak into the theme park and steal memorabilia.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An image of Patrick Spikes. The Florida man is said to have seized almost $14,000 in costumes, props and attractions from Disney World between July 2018 and January 2019. (Orange County Sheriffs Office)
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Spikes and Taunton, of Kissimmee, were scheduled to stand trial in January before it was canceled.
According to WESH, Taunton pleaded no contest for grand theft and received five years probation. Both men will now avoid jail time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Authorities believe that the cousins stole from Disney between June 2018 and January 2019, pretending to be working in order to access employee-only underground tunnels.
An image of Spikes modeling one of the reportedly stolen wigs. (Fifth Circuit State Attorneys Office)
The arrest affidavit states that Spikes and Taunton snuck into Magic Kingdom and swiped $7,200 worth of costumes and wigs from the Haunted Mansion. In October, authorities also said they suspected that Spikes stole part of the animatronic "Buzzy" from the Cranium Command amusement at the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot during the seven-month period. The animatronic parts were valued at about $6,800, according to WFTV.
An image of the wigs reportedly stolen from Disney World. (Fifth Circuit State Attorneys Office)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Later on, Spikes reportedly received nearly $30,000 in payments for the stolen goods via PayPal from two different buyers, WESH reports.
One person was NBA Milwaukee Bucks player Robin Lopez, an “avid Disney collector” who supposedly bought clothing from the animatronic Buzzy. The $400,000 figure itself remains missing, according to the outlet.
Moving forward, both Spikes and Taunton will share a restitution repayment of over $25,000. Of the hefty sum, about $6,700 will got to Disney, $10,700 to Lopez and over $7,900 to an accountant based in Winter Park.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the courtroom, though Judge Denise Beamer explicitly told the men that they “will not return to any Disney property” during the probationary period, Spikes played it coy as he later exited the trial.
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“I'm going to Disney World,” WESH reports that he declared, apparently referencing the famous phrase often shouted by Super Bowl champs after victory on the field.