National Aeronautics and Space Administration<br />Office of Inspector General<br />Washington, DC 20546<br /><br /><br />June 25, 2003<br /><br /><br />RELEASE 2003-043: FORMER DEPUTY PLEADS GUILTY TO SHUTTLE THEFT<br /><br /><br /> On June 13, 2003, Jeffrey D. Arriola, a former Angelina County Deputy <br />Sheriff, pled guilty to stealing debris from the space shuttle <br />Columbia. Arriola admitted that while he was helping locate shuttle <br />wreckage, he illegally pocketed two small pieces of a straight-back <br />type back shell, which is a wiring harness connector on the shuttle.<br /><br /><br />United States Attorney Matthew D. Orwin praised the cooperative effort <br />of the Angelina County Sheriff's Office and NASA's Office of Inspector <br />General, "This investigation centered on the activities of a law <br />enforcement officer. A deputy sheriff should know better than to take <br />a piece of the shuttle. We expect a high degree of professionalism and <br />integrity from those sworn to uphold the law and Arriola failed the <br />test when that moment came."<br /><br /><br />Since the pieces have a value of less than $1,000 Arriola has pled <br />guilty to a misdemeanor. Arriola resigned his sheriff's deputy <br />commission after he was indicted. He could face a maximum sentence of <br />one year in jail and a fine of $100,000.<br /><br /><br />This investigation was conducted by the NASA Office of Inspector <br />General and Angelina County Sheriff's Office. Assistant United States <br />Attorney John Stevens is prosecuting the case.<br /><br /><br />For more information on this release, please call Joe Kroener, Acting <br />Executive Officer, NASA Office of Inspector General at (202) 358-2558.<br /><br /><br /> *** End ***<br /><br /><br />Please do not contact NASA Office of Public Affairs for information on<br />Office of Inspector General releases.<br /><br /><br />For additional information on the NASA Office of Inspector General,<br />including published reviews, audit reports, inspection/assessment reports,<br />press releases, and other publications, please access our web site at:<br />http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oig/hq<br /><br /><br />Report Crime, Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Mismanagement to the NASA OIG<br />Hotline at: 800-424-9183, TDD 800-535-8134.