City man enters guilty plea for part in retail theft ring

Chichy sentenced to six months to one year in jail

CLEARFIELD -- An Altoona man involved with a retail theft ring was sentenced Monday for a Clearfield County case.

Police say Travis Scott Chichy, 44, was one of several people who stole items from the Lawrence Township Walmart in November 2022.

Chichy pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy/retail theft and was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to serve six months to one year in the county jail with three years concurrent probation.

He must pay restitution to Walmart of $1,582.83.

Tammi Marie Koch, 38, also of Altoona, was arrested after she returned to the Clearfield Walmart on Dec. 5, 2022.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, she was part of a larger investigation into thefts at several Walmart stores both in and out of Pennsylvania.

Koch was identified as the "main female involved."

Her tattoos helped make that connection because she had been arrested in Keyser, West Virginia, for grand larceny at their Walmart.

She told authorities that Chichy put "makeup on his tattoos and covered them to avoid being identified."

On that November day, he reportedly filled a cart separate from Koch with merchandise totaling over $1,500.

Assistant District Attorney Brittany McCracken noted that this plea agreement was offered because Chichy was cooperating with investigators in the case against Koch.

Chichy's attorney, Joseph Ryan, stated that his cooperation was the reason Koch agreed to plead guilty.

In December, Koch was sentenced by Ammerman to 12 months to three years in state prison for felony counts of conspiracy/retail theft and receiving stolen property. That will run consecutive to a state prison sentence of six months to 24 months she received in Clarion County for misdemeanor retail theft on Nov. 15.

In November, she was also sentenced in Blair County to three months to 23 months, 15 days in Blair County Prison for three other retail theft cases.