As an attorney for the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, TobyWelch is used to seeing the courtroom from the prosecutor’s tableduring forfeiture and seizure hearings.

On Wednesday, Welch got a view from the witness stand as hetestified as the victim in an identity theft and grand larcenytrial on charges filed against William Michael McDermott. Welch andhis wife, Colleen, had hired McDermott, 48, to do some paintingaround their Becker Street home last summer.

On the stand, Welch recalled celebrating his 29th birthday Sept.20 in Lincoln County. A credit card bill that arrived the nextmonth, however, suggested he was elsewhere at that time.

“Apparently, I was in Baton Rouge using this credit card,” Welchsaid.

Welch said the card, in his wife’s name, was kept in a safe andnever used except for emergencies. Also, the card was used topurchase $515 in building materials, and Welch knew that could notbe possible.

“I’m not allowed near building materials,” he said jokingly.

Subsequent checks of the home revealed crystal champagne flutesand his M Club ring from his time at the University of Mississippiwere also missing, Welch said. The value of the items was estimatedat over $500.

An investigation by Brookhaven Police Department Assistant ChiefNolan Jones found McDermott’s driver’s license number printed onthe receipt for the building supply purchase. Other prosecutionwitnesses, who came from Louisiana, identified McDermott as the manwho bought the supplies and later had them delivered to a BatonRouge work site.

After returning from work in Florida, Jones said, McDermottturned himself in in November.

McDermott also retrieved the missing ring from a person inKokomo, Jones said, and it was returned to Welch. The champagneflutes were not recovered, the detective said.

Gus Sermos, McDermott’s attorney, contended the evidence wascircumstantial and did not justify a conviction on grand larcenyand identity theft. Sermos asserted other workers had access to theinside of the Welch home, although Welch testified otherwise.

“He promised me that nobody else would be there, just himself,that’s it,” Welch said.

McDermott did not testify in his defense. McDermott is facingother charges in Louisiana, and Judge Mike Taylor advised him anytestimony he gives could be used elsewhere.

McDermott’s mother, Doris Smith, was the only defensewitness.

Smith testified about her son’s work and about giving him moneyto help get Welch’s ring back from a woman in Kokomo. She saidWelch had agreed to drop grand larceny charges if the ring andchampagne glasses were returned.

Following a day of testimony, jurors deliberated about 25minutes before convicting McDermott on all counts. He is scheduledto be sentenced at 4 p.m. today, circuit court officials said.