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> National Aeronautics and Space Administration
> Office of Inspector General
> Washington, D.C. 20546
>
> July 22, 2002
>
> RELEASE 2002-081: FOUR ARRESTED IN SCHEME TO SELL STOLEN MOON ROCKS
>
> On July 20, 2002, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Tampa and
> the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) recovered priceless lunar
> samples brought back to Earth by each of the Apollo missions that
> landed on the moon. A 600-pound safe containing lunar samples from
> every Apollo mission was stolen from the Johnson Space Center on July
> 13.
>
> James F. Jarboe, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Tampa Division, and Lance
> Carrington, NASA OIG Assistant Inspector General for Investigations,
> today announced the arrest, without incident, of three individuals,
> Thad Ryan Roberts, Age 25; Tiffany Brooke Fowler, age 22; and Gordon
> Sean McWorter, age 26. The three were taken into custody late Saturday
> in Orlando, Florida, by Special Agents of the FBI and the NASA OIG and
> charged with Conspiracy to Commit Theft of Government Property and
> Transportation in Interstate Commerce of Stolen Property. A fourth
> individual, Shae Lynn Saur, age 19, was arrested in Houston and also
> charged with Conspiracy. Roberts, Fowler, and Saur were student
> employees at Johnson Space Center.
>
> Jarboe stated that since May 2002, an FBI undercover operation has
> utilized e-mail to communicate with an individual offering priceless
> moon rocks, which the individual described as the world's largest
> private and verifiable Apollo rock collection. The e-mail messages
> were sent from several locations -- the University of Utah, Johnson
> Space Center and a public library in Houston. The continued exchanges
> included curatorial and historical records on the samples provided by
> the seller, and culminated in a meeting at a restaurant in Orlando over
> the weekend of July 20-21 to finalize the purchase of the Apollo moon
> rocks.
>
> Mr. Jarboe praised the joint investigative efforts of the NASA OIG and
> the FBI in the swift recovery and arrest(s) in this matter.
>
> The defendants arrested in Orlando were afforded their initial
> appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Thomas B. McCoun on
> July 22, 2002.
>
> The FBI began this investigation after receiving a tip through an e-
> mail address established by the Tampa Division for Internet Fraud
> Matters. The e-mail address is [EMAIL PROTECTED] The NASA OIG also
> operates a cyber-hotline, which can be found at:
> http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oig/hq/hotline.html
>
> For more information on this release, please call Paul Shawcross,
> Executive Officer, NASA Office of Inspector General, at (202) 358-2558.
>
> *** End ***
>
> Please do not contact NASA Office of Public Affairs for information on
> Office of Inspector General releases.
>
> For additional information on the NASA Office of Inspector General,
> including published reviews, audit reports, inspection/assessment reports,
> press releases, and other publications, please access our web site at:
> http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oig/hq
>
> Report Crime, Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Mismanagement to the NASA OIG
> Hotline at: 800-424-9183, TDD 800-535-8134.
>
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