A 30-year-old civilian accused of stealing nearly $600,000 worth of computer equipment from Navy ships over a nine-month period pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday, according to prosecutors.
Ernesto Saldivar, an employee at General Dynamics NASSCO in Barrio Logan who was part of the shipyards’ modernization efforts, stole hundreds of items including hard drives and laptops from declassified areas on the USS Pinckney, USS Curtis Wilbur and USS Spruance.
Saldivar then sold the items, including two hard drives containing military communication, online.
His plea agreement states he stole $596,977.53 worth of items between November 2022 and August 2023, receiving $2,584.98 in payments from eBay sales of the stolen items.
“Stealing from our military doesn’t just hurt the taxpayer, it puts our national security and service members at risk,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “The military relies heavily on civilian support, and we will do our part to ensure our service members can trust the civilians standing by their side.”
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