67°
Federal authorities eventually caught on to Jose Rodriguez, 49, of Brick, then got a conviction for mail fraud.
Hired in October 2007, Rodriguez worked as a senior engineer and repairman at Amtrak's North Brunswick facility, authorities said.
Five years later, Rodriguez admitted in federal court, he began gathering equipment under the false pretense that they'd be used for company projects.
Before he was caught in 2020, Rodriguez had collected 114 chainsaws, 122 chainsaw replacement bars and 222 replacement chains worth more than $76,000 combined for himself.
He sold the items through online auction and directly to buyers, using the U.S. Postal Service to mail them to purchasers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and elsewhere in the U.S., federal authorities said.
Federal agents recovered several of the stolen chainsaws and parts thanks, in part, to their serial numbers.
SEE: Feds Charge NJ Amtrak Employee With Stealing, Fencing Chainsaws, Parts
Rodriguez was charged in March 2021 with one count of theft from an agency receiving federal funds and one count of theft of government property. Rather than risk trial, he pleaded guilty last month to mail fraud via videoconference with U.S. District Court Judge Zahid N. Quraishi in Newark.
Quraishi scheduled sentencing for April 19.
Detectives from Amtrak Police New York Division and Mid-Atlantic Division and special agents from Amtrak Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation leading to the guilty plea, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Faye Schwartz in the Special Prosecutions Division of U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger's office and Cari Fais, chief of the Criminal Division’s Opioids Unit.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Villas-Lower Township and receive free news updates.
