Timothy Charles Webb Jr., 38, was sentenced to two years in prison for his theft of property from Agilent Technologies Inc. over the course of approximately five years, according to a statement from Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua.
In addition, Webb agreed to pay $1.22 million in restitution to Agilent.
“Even though the ultimate sentence given by the court was not what we had hoped, it still is significant and allows Agilent to recoup the damage their ex-employee has caused,” said Assistant District Attorney Diana Gomez said.
After Webb entered pleas of no contest to burglary and grand theft on May 1, 2008, Webb returned a truckload of property belonging to Agilent Technologies and agreed his actions caused $1.22 million in losses to the company, according to the report.
At sentencing, Webb argued that he should receive a sentence of probation. The Sonoma County Probation Department recommended the maximum available sentence of three years and eight months in prison be imposed and the district attorney agreed with that assessment, arguing that a theft of such magnitude necessitated a lengthy prison sentence.
Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Arthur Wick ultimately sentenced Mr. Webb to the mid-term of two years in prison.
The charges in this case arose out of an investigation which began on February 24, 2007, when Webb was caught by an Agilent employee removing items from a company workspace.
When confronted by the employee, Webb fled on foot.
Agilent’s video surveillance security camera picked up images of Webb as he was fleeing the complex and, as a former Agilent employee, Webb was identified by several Agilent employees.
Following the burglary and identification of Webb, the Santa Rosa Police Department obtained a search warrant for Webb’s residence, where the officers discovered thousands of electronic items stockpiled and organized in Webb’s home.
Further investigation revealed that Webb was selling the items on eBay and that virtually all of the items, which filled almost every room of Webb’s residence, had been stolen from Agilent.
Late last year the Sonoma County District Attorney obtained another large restitution award in a different employee/employer embezzlement case.
In that case, $1,888,280.43 was ordered in the criminal case against Ryan Merman, who was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison on December 17, 2009, by Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Elliott Daum for embezzling from his employer, Petaluma company STX Inc.
Santa Rosa Police Department Detective Matthew Tomlin was the investigating officer who spearheaded the investigation in the Webb matter and Deputy District Attorney Robin Hammond was the prosecutor assigned to the case.
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