Sheriff's Office arrests man for Virgil tractor theft

Benjamin F. Marsh, 39, of Brasher Falls, St. Lawrence County

VIRGIL — Cortland County Sheriff’s investigators arrested a St. Lawrence County man this morning for stealing a John Deere tractor in October from a Daisy Hollow Road farm.

The department recovered the tractor and charged Benjamin F. Marsh, 39, of Brasher Falls with felony third-degree grand larceny and trespass, a violation, according to a news release.

The John Deere 2940 tractor was stolen overnight between October 6th and 7th, according to a release in The Cortland Voice archives. John Deere manufactured that tractor model between 1980 and 1982, according to Tractordata.com. It is valued at $8,000, said Lt. Todd Caufield in a phone interview this afternoon.

Over the eight-month investigation, the Sheriff’s Office discovered the tractor had been hauled on a trailer to property Marsh owned near his Brasher Falls residence, said Caufield. The St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office helped investigators find the tractor, which was impounded and returned to its owner, the release states.

Marsh turned himself in to County investigators this morning at the Cortland County Sheriff’s Office, located in the County’s Public Safety Building at 54 Greenbush St., according to the department. He was arraigned at 10:30 a.m. at the adjoining Cortland County Correctional Facility and was released to appear on July 21 in Virgil Town Court.

Tractor that was stolen. (Photo provided by the Cortland County Sheriff's Office Facebook page).