Woman pleads guilty to phony Craigslist ad

Tacoma (WA) – A Washington woman has pleaded guilty to placing a Craigslist ad that caused her aunt’s vacant house to be ransacked. Nichole Marie Blackwell placed the ad on March 24th which stated that anyone could come and take “whatever you want”. Even though the ad was only up for less than two hours, people came and stole everything from the home – they even took the kitchen sink and windows.

Even though the ad said that everything was free and “nothing is offlimits”, Blackwell’s attorney initially argued that it was all a big misunderstanding and that she only meant that only the stuff outside of the house was for the taking.

In what appears to be a case of family feud, home-owner and victim Laurie Raye had just evicted Blackwell’s mother just before the ad posted. Raye is also Blackwell’s aunt.

Blackwell will now receive three months of home detention. Unfortunately for Raye, she had to spend tens of thousands to replace the stolen items and to repair damage to the house. She put the home up for sale in August, but it is still on the market.