SACRAMENTO — A Stanford College worker and her brother had been sentenced to greater than a 12 months in jail for what prosecutors say was a scheme to steal and promote greater than $4 million value of Apple Macbooks from the varsity.
Patricia Castaneda, 38, was sentenced to 33 months in jail and her brother Eric Castaneda, 37, was sentenced to 18 months by U.S. District Decide Kimberly J. Mueller, in response to federal authorities in a information launch. Patricia Castaneda to pay greater than $4 million in restitution and Eric Castaneda was ordered to pay greater than $2 million.
The Stanford Evaluate, the college’s student-run newspaper, reported in February that Patricia Castaneda managed the know-how funds for the division’s dean, and known as on college officers to clarify how tons of of laptops may flip up lacking earlier than anybody observed.
In accordance with courtroom paperwork, Patricia Castaneda labored within the College of Humanities and Sciences and ordered MacBooks for college school and workers. Prosecutors mentioned Patricia Castaneda started stealing MacBooks in 2009 and 2010 and ordered and bought them for money via somebody she met on Craigslist. In February 2016, she began giving the Macbooks to Eric Castaneda to promote to somebody named Philip James who resold and shipped the laptops from Folsom to different patrons.
Over greater than 10 years, Patricia Castaneda stole greater than $4 million value of laptops, together with the 800 stolen MacBooks, value about $2.3 million, her brother bought to James.
Patricia Castaneda pleaded responsible final month to a cost of federal program theft whereas Eric Castaneda pleaded responsible to conspiracy to move stolen property throughout state traces.
Folsom resident James, 35, pleaded responsible final week to transporting stolen property interstate, in response to authorities. James purchased nearly 1,000 stolen laptops from October 2015 via June 2020 and resold and shipped them from Folsom to patrons exterior of California, in response to courtroom paperwork.
James additionally purchased laptops from College of California, Berkeley worker Jonas Jarut, 41, of Emeryville, who pleaded responsible in 2020 to conspiracy to move stolen property interstate, in response to officers. Jarut labored as a database administrator within the Graduate College of Schooling and purchased laptops for the graduate college, in response to courtroom paperwork. In March 2019, Jarut started stealing laptops and promoting them to James. Jarut stole at the least 90 laptops, costing greater than $200,000 to the graduate college.
James agreed to pay $2.28 million in restitution to Stanford and greater than $209,000 to Berkeley. James is scheduled to be sentenced July 25.