Countywide : Soldier Disciplined for Computer Thefts From Military Base

A soldier who tried to sell stolen military computers in Ventura County at the end of the Persian Gulf War was court-martialed after one of his potential customers reported him to a Crime Stoppers hot line, officials said Thursday.

Army Spec. John Sheppard, 24, who was stationed at Fort Ord in Monterey County, was convicted of multiple counts of larceny and wrongful disposition of government property by a general court martial June 1, said Fort Ord public affairs officer Reyola Carlisle.

Sheppard and several other members of a Fort Ord trucking unit stole more than $70,000 worth of computers and other military equipment from ships returning from Saudi Arabia to the Naval Construction Battalion Center at Port Hueneme last year, Carlisle said.

An unidentified Thousand Oaks woman--who police describe as a friend of Sheppard--advertised the military-issue laptop computers on a local computer bulletin board, Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kitty Hoberg said.

When an unidentified prospective buyer turned one of the computers on, the screen flashed a “Welcome to Saudi Arabia” message, Hoberg said, followed by various military codes and unit deployments.

The prospective buyer declined an offer to buy the machine and reported the incident to a Ventura County Crime Stoppers hot line, Hoberg said.

By the time sheriff’s investigators uncovered sufficient information to request a search warrant, the material had been moved to a Monterey County apartment, Hoberg said.

Army investigators confronted Sheppard at the base last October, and later recovered more than $30,000 of computer and military equipment, she said.

Last month, Sheppard was sentenced to three years in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, Carlisle said.

The unidentified man who reported the crime received a $400 reward, Hoberg said.