San Diego

Former Navy Warehouse Manager Stole Over $2.5M Worth of Manufacture Items From US Navy: US Attorney

Those companies loaded up trucks, sometimes in broad daylight, and drove off the lot

A manager stole more than $2.5 million worth of goods in under one year from a U.S. Navy warehouse where he worked, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

Herbert Gutierrez, 54, orchestrated a flow of stolen items from the warehouse where he worked to internet sites such as Ebay and then into private trucks, according to his plea agreement on Wednesday.

From July 2018 to April 2019, Gutierrez advertised Military Sealift Command (MSC) warehouse items online and then permitted private companies and individuals into the Military Sealift Command warehouse, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Those companies loaded up trucks, sometimes in broad daylight, and drove off the lot.

In one instance, Gutierrez allowed people into the warehouse after hours where they loaded up $1 million in stolen copper nickel tubing, the report said.

He also sold four pallets of Caterpillar construction parts to a company he found online and concealed that activity with fraudulent paperwork.

The last straw was in April 2019 when Gutierrez allowed two undercover Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents to enter the warehouse in broad daylight and load up their vehicle with thousands of dollars worth of government property.

“Our U.S. Navy warehouses are meant to support our service members at home and overseas, not to serve as a piggybank for unscrupulous individuals,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer. “This was an audacious crime that was even more troubling because it was committed by an insider.”

Gutierrez admitted in his plea agreement that the total value of the items was $2.536 million.

Gutierrez could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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