The Region - News from July 22, 1986

The last of four men convicted in one of the largest crude-oil thefts in U.S. history was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Mose Allen Geter Jr., 25, of Palm Desert pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy and theft from an interstate shipment. U.S. District Judge A. Wallace Tashima also fined Geter $5,000 and placed him on five years’ probation following his release from prison. During his probation, he has to perform 250 hours of community service. Prosecutors said the men, including Geter’s father and younger brother, siphoned more than 10 million gallons of oil worth $4 million from a tapped underground pipeline in the desert north of Palm Springs between late 1981 and January, 1985.