In every issue of this fine rag, the Volcano's hack team of wannabe journalists tackles some of the most laughable criminal acts that have recently happened in our area. Then - if we're doing our job - we write about those crimes in a way that makes you chuckle, or at the very least helps you find something better to do than get hyped up like a 14-year-old girl for The Hunger Games.

It's not the most important job, but someone has to do it. At the Weekly Volcano Crime Desk, along with trying to lure Peyton Manning into signing with our Metro Parks flag football team, it's our life's work.

This week's column takes us to the wilds of Puyallup, where stupid often runs in packs

Enjoy.

As the old saying goes, "The family that defrauds together, stays together."

That adage held true once again this week as four Puyallup men were sentenced Friday, March 2 to federal prison, after pleading guilty and being convicted of rolling back the odometers on used cars they later sold. The four now-sentenced criminals include father and son Robert and Ricky Ristick, along with brothers Miller and Stanley Stevens.

The two criminal family units will now both be spending roughly two years behind bars together, with the Stevens brothers and Ricky Ristick sentenced to a year in federal prison, and Robert Ristick scheduled to 18 months.

Adam Lynn reports on the News Tribune's "Lights & Sirens" blog, as one example of their convicted devious ways federal prosecutors say the Risticks admitted to buying a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado with 192,000 miles for $7,800 in 2006, then later convincing a mechanic to roll back the odometer to 64,521 miles. This move allowed the father-and-son team to resell the pickup for $15,000 - marking a substantial profit for the duo, and also bringing new meaning to family togetherness.

According to completely un-verified Ragnet Crime Desk reporting, the Risticks say carrying out the crimes they've now been sentenced for was way more fun than a potato-sack race ... at least until they got busted.

Also according to completely un-verified Ragnet Crime Desk reporting, the Stevens Brothers, Miller and Stanley, are a little pissed to be taking a backseat billing to their criminal counterparts, though they do admit Robert and Ricky Risticks have way cooler sounding names.

As Lynn went on to report for the Trib, federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum, "Victims of odometer schemes do not simply lose money. They are led to drive vehicles that may be far less safe and reliable than they realize."

As if selling a Chevrolet Silverado with 192,000 miles on it for $15,000 wasn't bad enough. - Darryl Darryl, Puyallup-Related Crime Correspondent