BOISE, Idaho (BRAIN) — Prosecutors say Bradley Knirnschild had a bad habit of renting bikes and vans that he never returned.
Bradley Knirnschild, now 27, entered a plea agreement in November in which he pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods, for stealing 11 high-end road and mountain bikes in Washington state and trying to sell them to a pawn shop in Boise.
He was sentenced Thursday to two years in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $11,200 to Trek Bicycle Williamsburg in Virginia, and $3,500 to Flume Trail Bikes in Incline Village, Nevada. He will serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
According to 2019 news reports, Knirnschild was arrested after trying to pawn a stolen bike in Boise. A pawnshop employee noticed a bike shop sticker on the bike and called the retailer, who said the bike had been stolen from them. The pawnshop called the police and Knirnschild drove off in a U-Haul van while pawnshop employees followed him until police pulled him over.
Court records said the bikes recovered included two Colnagos, two BMCs, two Intenses, two Santa Cruzes and two Specialized bikes.
At the time, police in Boise said Knirnschild was wanted for bike thefts in several states and said Knirnschild also was wanted for a felony battery warrant out of Florida. Law enforcement also recovered about $14,000 in cash from the van.
According to court records, in early July 2019, Knirnschild rented the U-Haul van in Florida for a day. Prosecutors said he used the van to steal about two dozen high‑end bicycles in multiple states. They said Knirnschild would rent high-end bikes and then transport them to another state with the intent to sell them, primarily at pawnshops. The scheme resulted in a total loss of more than $40,000 to bicycle shops across the country, prosecutors said.
