A man in Ocean County admitted to fraudulently obtaining chainsaws and chain saw parts from his employer, and then sold the equipment for personal gain.

According to information provided by Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig, the 49-year-old Jose Rodriguez pleaded guilty in a video conference before U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi on December 13 and charged him with a crime of mail fraud.

Rodriguez had previously been charged in March with one count of theft from an agency receiving federal funds and one count of theft of government property.

According to the documents and court statements submitted in this case, Rodriguez has been an employee of Amtrak since October 2007. His most recent position was a senior engineer and repairman, working at the Amtrak plant in North Brunswick.

Between March 2012 and July 2020, Rodriguez obtained 114 chain saws, 122 replacement chainsaws and 222 replacement chains from Amtrak, with a total value of more than $76,000, pretending that the equipment will be used in the Amtrak project , But subsequently stated in its sale statement that these devices were either provided through online auction services or directly to buyers.

The statement stated that Rodriguez used the U.S. Postal Service to mail stolen chain saws and chain saw parts to buyers across the United States, including buyers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Allegations of mail fraud are punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

The sentence is scheduled for April 19.

Subscribe and receive local news, sports, events, etc. sent to your inbox.

You can find our archives from 2000 to 2015 at archive.centraljersey.com

You can find our digital archive here