[meteorite-list] Moon rock thief sorry (that he was caught)

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat Feb 12 19:30:56 2005
Message-ID: <f28t011p7ot4d52ngctqiudnpierpurfi6_at_4ax.com>

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-locmoonrock12021205feb12,1,3740121.story?coll=orl-news-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

 
Moon-rock thief says he's sorry
The man behind the 2002 theft apologizes to a mentor. A judge trims his sentence.

By Henry Pierson Curtis | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted February 12, 2005


Thad Roberts, the mastermind behind the 2002 theft of NASA moon rocks, returned to Central Florida
on Friday with a new credit on his r?sum?: founder of what may be the only astronomy club in the
federal prison system.

Since being sentenced more than a year ago, the once-promising doctoral candidate has been allowed
out of his cell at night only once to study the stars.

"I miss being part of your world," he told internationally recognized NASA scientist Everett K.
Gibson Jr., the mentor he betrayed. "I know what I did is perhaps unforgivable for the rest of your
life."

Gibson listened from benches in the back of U.S. District Judge Anne's C. Conway's courtroom without
acknowledging the apology.

He flew in for the day from Houston to testify one last time against Roberts, who was being
re-sentenced for stealing specimens described as "priceless national treasures."

Sentenced in 2003 to eight years, Roberts, 28, won a re-sentencing when an appeals court ruled
Conway had erred by giving him more time than the federal sentencing guidelines permitted without
adequately determining whether his crime greatly disrupted NASA operations. Conway amended the
original sentence Friday, reducing it by 10 months.

In July 2002, Roberts and two other interns stole a 585-pound safe containing moon rocks and Martian
meteorites worth at least $21 million from Gibson's laboratory at Johnson Space Center. They also
destroyed about 30 years' worth of Gibson's research records.

The case was tried in Orlando because Roberts and two co-defendants were arrested a week after the
theft when they tried to sell the missing specimens to undercover FBI agents at an area hotel.

Friday's hearing determined that the theft destroyed the value of the rocks as research specimens,
because the theft broke a chain of custody that began the moment astronauts picked the rocks off the
surface of the moon in 1969.

The hearing set the cost of the theft to NASA, taxpayers and Gibson at about $7 million in lost
research and productivity.

The crime also created a suspicion that persists at the space agency about interns recruited from
the smartest science students in the United States to work at NASA.

"Sir, we are all having serious thoughts about interns in our laboratories now," testified Gibson,
who now permits just one intern to work near his research. "We do not allow him to work alone."

Roberts told the court Friday that his goal is to receive a doctorate and "try to find a way to make
a positive contribution to the scientific community."

His scientific pretension left Roberts defenseless to a cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Bruce Hinshelwood, who asked Roberts for his evaluation as a scientist of the comparative research
value of the moon rocks before and after their theft.

"I can't say," Roberts answered.

"That's the point, isn't it?" Hinshelwood responded. "Nothing further, your honor."

Before re-sentencing Roberts, Conway said she believes he knows the location of Gibson's stolen
research records despite his claims to the contrary. She then declared that his crime had, in fact,
greatly disrupted NASA operations.

Roberts may not be returned to the minimum-security prison camp in Colorado, where he started his
astronomy club, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons. A prison spokeswoman was not aware of
any similar clubs.

Henry Pierson Curtis can be reached

at hcurtis_at_orlandosentinel.com

or 407-420-5257.
Received on Sat 12 Feb 2005 07:37:01 PM PST