Served on Ship in Long Beach : Sailor to Face Trial in Theft of ID Cards

A sailor who was stationed in Long Beach at the time of his arrest last spring has been ordered to stand trial in Santa Monica Superior Court on charges of possessing and conspiring to sell 575 stolen blank military identification cards.

Seaman William Craig Lage, 23, who had been assigned to the ship Wabash, then docked at Long Beach, and three other men, were arrested April 29 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, where arrangements had been made for an undercover Naval Investigative Service agent to purchase the cards for $500,000, according to the district attorney’s office.

Kenneth C. Wullschleger, head deputy district attorney in Beverly Hills, said that Lage came under suspicion after another sailor, Yeoman 1st Class Donald D. Pier, a shipmate, told his commanding officers that Lage had approached him and told him about the cards.

During a Beverly Hills Municipal Court hearing, Pier said he agreed to work with navy investigators. He told Lage the cards could be sold for about $1,000 each, he testified.

Pier testified that, working undercover, he then met with Lage and 23-year-old Ronald Halbert Singer, of Beverly Hills and told them he would arrange a buyer for the cards. Pier said Lage and he rented two rooms at the Beverly Hills Hotel, where they were to meet with the “buyer.” It was arranged that two other men, 24-year-old Kazem Moghaddam of Beverly Hills and 25-year-old Fredrick Carl Burwell Jr. of Los Angeles were to act as a backup and surveillance team.

Lage was arrested in his room at the Beverly Hills Hotel after he offered to sell the blank identification cards to an undercover agent who posed as a buyer, Wullschleger said. Also arrested were Burwell, Moghaddam and Singer. During a search of Lage’s hotel room, officers recovered the balance of the 575 blank identification cards.

Lage, Moghaddam and Singer, who all pleaded innocent in Beverly Hills Municipal Court, were ordered held for trial in Superior Court. Moghaddam is also charged with carrying a concealed, loaded weapon, Wullschleger said. Charges against Burwell were dropped because of insufficient evidence.

A representative of the Naval Investigative Service said that because the matter is still under investigation, there would be no comment. Naval officials said the identification cards, after being filled in with phony identification, could be used to gain admission to military bases. If accompanied by other identification, they could also conceivably be used as passports by aliens attempting to enter this country.

Lage’s attorney, Wilton Roddy will represent Lage in a pending court martial hearing.

Wullschleger said that if convicted, the men could be sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison. Moghaddam and Singer were released on bail. Lage is being held in custody by the Navy, Wullschleger said.

Arraignment is scheduled August 5 in Santa Monica Superior Court.