BATON ROUGE, La. Jan 12 2013— A 48-year-old man has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison after admitting he stole $127,600 in high-tech equipment from the U.S. Coast Guard and sold it to people in the United States, Sweden and Colombia.
The Advocate reports that Raymond L. Beavers of Denham Springs told U.S. District Judge James J. Brady on Thursday that he sold the equipment because of a gambling problem.
“I made a stupid mistake and tarnished 25 years of my military career,” Beavers said.
“This is utterly out of character” said Rhett Spano, Beavers’ attorney. Spano said Beavers “has been a hard-working man all his life.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan A. Stevens said Beavers spent some of the money on tickets and trips to LSU athletic events.
“You can’t just steal military stuff and sell it over the Internet to fund” a fan’s devotion to sports, Stevens added.
In a written statement after the hearing, U.S. Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux Jr. noted that Beavers used both eBay and PayPal to make his equipment sales.
Stolen items included Tektronix digital oscilloscopes and Cisco computer network switches, according to Beavers’ indictment.
In addition to the prison term, Brady ordered Beavers to pay $127,600 in restitution to the Coast Guard.
Brady also ordered Beavers to forfeit $69,637 he received from buyers of that equipment.
Court records show Beavers was supervisor of the Coast Guard’s Electronic Support Detachment in New Orleans when the thefts occurred between February 2007 and March 2008.
Brady told Beavers to report to federal prison on Feb. 11.
The Advocate reports that Raymond L. Beavers of Denham Springs told U.S. District Judge James J. Brady on Thursday that he sold the equipment because of a gambling problem.
“I made a stupid mistake and tarnished 25 years of my military career,” Beavers said.
“This is utterly out of character” said Rhett Spano, Beavers’ attorney. Spano said Beavers “has been a hard-working man all his life.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan A. Stevens said Beavers spent some of the money on tickets and trips to LSU athletic events.
“You can’t just steal military stuff and sell it over the Internet to fund” a fan’s devotion to sports, Stevens added.
In a written statement after the hearing, U.S. Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux Jr. noted that Beavers used both eBay and PayPal to make his equipment sales.
Stolen items included Tektronix digital oscilloscopes and Cisco computer network switches, according to Beavers’ indictment.
In addition to the prison term, Brady ordered Beavers to pay $127,600 in restitution to the Coast Guard.
Brady also ordered Beavers to forfeit $69,637 he received from buyers of that equipment.
Court records show Beavers was supervisor of the Coast Guard’s Electronic Support Detachment in New Orleans when the thefts occurred between February 2007 and March 2008.
Brady told Beavers to report to federal prison on Feb. 11.