Gold Theft Plot Using Phony JPL Office Is Foiled, U.S. Says

They had a guy in a white scientist’s coat, phony requisition forms and a fake Jet Propulsion Laboratory office set up in east Pasadena.

But in the end, federal prosecutors said, it was a simple spelling mistake that tripped up the four men who allegedly perpetrated an elaborate scam to steal $1.6 million in gold parts from one of the world’s largest manufacturers of precious metals.

“On a requisition order, the word ‘sergeant’ was spelled ‘sargent,’ ” said Samantha Martin of the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston. “That, along with the fact they wanted the shipment made by UPS and not the usual armored car, made . . . officials suspicious.”

Those suspicions begat a government sting, and on Wednesday, the four men were charged in Los Angeles federal court with mail fraud and accused of posing as JPL employees and military personnel to obtain the gold parts.

Anthony M. Macaluso, 19; Alexander Drabkin, 42; Daniel C. Patterson, 57; and Michael Itaev, 45, are accused of attempting to defraud Massachusetts-based Stern-Leach Co. of large quantities of gold products. On Tuesday, a U.S. magistrate judge set Patterson’s bail at $200,000, Itaev’s at $75,000 and Macaluso’s at $25,000. Drabkin is scheduled for a bail hearing today. Prosecutors are seeking to move them all to Boston for a trial.

Each could face as much as five years in federal prison plus three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

They were arrested Tuesday by special agents from the Department of Defense, two of whom disguised themselves as employees of an armored car company to make a delivery during the government sting operation.

According to prosecutors and court papers, the scheme involved a charade in which Patterson posed as a military official from San Diego seeking to have gold products delivered to a “neutron accelerator project” at the fake JPL office in Pasadena.

Patterson called a Stern-Leach salesman several weeks ago and identified himself as Sgt. Michael Jeffries from the Department of Defense’s Finance and Accounting Service in San Diego, authorities said. He said he “wished to purchase several gold products” for use with the space shuttle.

After his call, the company received requisition forms via fax and express mail for 120 sheets of gold, large quantities of 12- and 14-gauge gold wire and 80 ounces of gold “shot,” according to court papers.

But the contact on the order form was listed as a “Sargent” Michael Jeffries. Court documents also show that the salesman noted that, during his initial conversation, Patterson asked that the gold be shipped via next-day UPS--a highly unusual request because the valuable commodity is routinely transported in an armored car.

Both those things prompted Stern-Leach officials to call the FBI. The matter was referred to the Defense Department’s Criminal Investigation Service.

In an affidavit, Special Agent Keith A. Johnston said investigators discovered that there was no Sgt. Jeffries in the San Diego accounting service office, and his San Diego telephone number did not ring at a military phone.

Agents noted that faxes sent from Patterson to Stern-Leach originated from a Pasadena Mail Boxes Etc. store. Court documents also show that the express mail copy of the order did not come from San Diego, but had been handled by the Temple City post office near Pasadena.

Contacted by military investigators, JPL’s security officers confirmed that the Pasadena address was not connected to the world-famous lab, either.

The agents then obtained permission to wiretap the Stern-Leach salesman’s telephone line and recorded five or six conversations with Patterson, according to Johnston’s affidavit. During one of the conversations, prosecutors added, Patterson said he needed gold delivered quickly to a “Charles Shultz PhD” at the Pasadena address, for use in the space shuttle program.

That’s when the sting was activated. On Tuesday, five federal agents traveled with the armored car to the Pasadena office, on North San Gabriel Boulevard. When they arrived about noon, two agents disguised as delivery men asked for Shultz and were introduced to a man wearing a white laboratory coat bearing the name “Dr. Shultz,” the affidavit said.

The man, later identified as Drabkin, accepted the shipment and was promptly arrested, along with Macaluso, who was present.

Patterson and Itaev were arrested by federal agents and Pasadena police in a vehicle outside. Agents conducting surveillance had noticed the pair circling the fake JPL office until the armored car arrived.

During the arrest, Patterson’s voice was recognized as that of Sgt. Jeffries, according to the affidavit.