A Bay Area tech worker pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to conspiracy to transport stolen Apple MacBooks across state lines after selling them for over $500,000, authorities said.
Senior Director of Information Technology Andrew Halvorsen, 49, admitted to stealing 141 Apple MacBook laptops from November 2019 through May 2023 from an unidentified "cloud-based machine data analytics company" based in Redwood City, according to court documents. The Standard has contacted several firms in Redwood City to identify the company Halvorsen stole from and is waiting to hear back.
Halvorsen, of Livermore, sold the computers for $535,000 to an unnamed intermediary, who then resold and shipped them to out-of-state buyers.
Halvorsen would often meet the person he sold MacBooks to in a parking lot and communicated with them over text, court documents say. Over text, the two would discuss the type, model and number of MacBooks Halvorsen had for sale, as well as meeting locations. The intermediary has not been identified in court documents, and prosecutors have not said if they face any criminal charges.
The scheme came to light after an investigation by IRS Criminal Investigation agents and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Halvorsen faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines when he is sentenced on April 15 by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller.
The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to share more information about the unnamed person to whom Halvorsen sold the stolen computers due to an ongoing investigation.