[meteorite-list] Moon Rock Thief Gets More Than 8 Years In Federal Prison

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:28:36 2004
Message-ID: <200310292237.OAA18525_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-1029moonrock,0,1422541.story?coll=sfla-news-florida

Moon-rock thief gets more than 8 years in federal prison
Associated Press
October 29, 2003

ORLANDO -- The last of four people convicted of stealing moon rocks out of a
NASA safe and trying to sell them was sentenced Wednesday to more than eight
years in federal prison.

Thad Roberts, 26, a former intern at the Johnson Space Center in Houston,
pleaded guilty in December to stealing the rocks, which have been valued at
between $2.5 and $7 million.

Besides the sentence of eight-year, four-month sentence, the former
University of Utah student must serve three years of probation and
perform 150 hours of community service.

Roberts offered to sell ``priceless moon rocks'' collected by Apollo
astronauts in 1969 and the early 1970s for $1,000 to $5,000 a gram.

Investigators found Roberts and his three coconspirators after they
placed an ad in May 2002 on the Web site of the Mineralogy Club
of Antwerp, Belgium.

Two months later, a 600-pound safe containing moon rocks from
every Apollo mission was discovered missing from the space
center. Officials said the inventory offered by the suspects came from
the safe.

Also stolen were 33 years of handwritten notes by a top NASA scientist
studying the origins of the universe.

The stolen items were recovered in July 2002 at an Orlando hotel after
undercover FBI agents used e-mails to negotiate their purchase.

Roberts' coconspirators and fellow interns Gordon Sean McWhorter, Tiffany
Fowler and Shae Sauer have all been convicted. McWhorter was sentenced to
five years and 10 months in jail, while Fowler and Sauer were sentenced to
180 days house arrest and ordered to pay more than $9,000 restitution to
the space agency.

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http://www.local6.com/news/2590252/detail.html

Last Of 4 Moon Rock Thieves Sentenced

Lunar Items Valued Between $2.5 and $7 Million
local6.com
October 29, 2003

The last of four people convicted of stealing moon rocks out of a
600-pound safe inside a lab at Houston's Johnson Space Center received
his sentence Wednesday, according to Local 6 News.

Thad Roberts, 26, who pleaded guilty to stealing the
space rocks, which have been valued at between $2.5
million and $7 million, will spend the next eight
years and four months in prison. The sentence will be
followed by three years on a supervised release
program.

In court, Roberts said he was ashamed and apologized
to NASA for "abusing the trust he had with
co-workers there."

His attorney said they will likely appeal the sentence.

The value of the moon rocks, which came from every
Apollo mission from 1969 to 1972, was based upon what it
cost the U.S. government to go get them back in the 1960s and
1970s. The U.S. District Court in Orlando determined that, in
1962-1973 dollars, it cost $50,800 per gram to collect the lunar
samples, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reported.

The government recovered 101.5 grams of stolen rock. So the value
assigned to the rocks was set at $5.1 million.

The co-conspirators apparently were trying to sell the rocks on
the Internet for between $1,000 and $10,000 per gram.

The FBI in Tampa began investigating the moon rock theft in May
2002 after being tipped off by a Belgian investor.

In a fax sent to potential investors, Roberts boasted that he was
offering the "world's largest private" and only "verifiable" Apollo
rock collection. The fax went to an undercover agent he thought
was a potential buyer.

Roberts' co-conspirators and fellow interns Gordon Sean McWhorter,
Tiffany Fowler and Shae Sauer have all been convicted. McWhorter was
sentenced to five years and 10 months in jail, while Fowler and Sauer
were sentenced to 180 days house arrest and ordered to pay more than
$9,000 restitution to the space agency.
Received on Wed 29 Oct 2003 05:37:56 PM PST