THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 9, 1995 TAG: 9509090277
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
A security guard at St. Julian's Creek Annex Naval facility in Portsmouth pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to stealing computer and electronics equipment worth more than $47,000.
Johnny Stringer Jr., 41, was convicted of one count of theft of government property.
He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced Dec. 13.
Stringer, a U.S. Defense Department police officer since 1987, was arrested May 6 after base security personnel spotted him carrying stolen goods to his car.
Officers then watched as Stringer took the equipment into his Chesapeake home.
When base police searched Stringer's house and car, they found computer hardware and software, electronic equipment and tools valued at $47,656, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Shepard.
The equipment was stolen from five buildings at St. Julian's from early January to May 5, Shepard said during the hearing.
Stringer first became a suspect on the night of April 28 when he was caught on videotape entering a building to which he did not have security clearance.
He was videotaped again May 5, when he entered the same building and carried equipment to his 1983 Pontiac Grand Prix.
Investigators followed him to his house, where at 10:30 p.m. he was seen carrying the stolen goods inside.
Stringer confessed after the searches turned up the equipment. He told investigators that his motivation was to save money on new computer equipment, Shepard said.
KEYWORDS: ROBBERY by CNB