MASSACHUSETTS COMPUTER STOLEN Salem News Online: "By Julie Manganis
Staff writer


SALEM
A Salem man and his wife have pleaded guilty to federal mail and wire fraud for an Internet scheme to sell high-end boat equipment stolen from North Shore marinas.

Charles Martin, 35, and Jessica Budd, 28, admitted Thursday in U.S. District Court that they sold stolen marine radar equipment and other electronics to eBay bidders, who did not know the items had been stolen from boats in the Salem area in 2003 and 2004.

The two are also expected to face charges locally in connection with the boat thefts, which police believe involved more than $100,000 worth of equipment. Salem police believe the pair are tied to at least 20 boat burglaries in Salem, Danvers, Beverly, Gloucester and Manchester.

The pair were headed for a trial in May, when they decided to plead guilty on Thursday.

U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock will sentence the pair on May 20. Each is facing up to 20 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines, although defendants who plead guilty rather than go to trial usually do not get the maximum penalty.

The pair are also facing charges stemming from a recent theft in Danvers in which Martin allegedly ransacked the desk in a doctor's office while Budd was there for an appointment.

Martin, a boat mechanic who rented a garage on Bridge Street and lived at 33 Balcomb St., may have been using the money to support an OxyContin addiction, according to court papers in the federal case.

Their scam began to unravel when they sold a $10,000 Furuno radar system to a Pennsylvania couple through the Internet auction site eBay for just $1,600. When the couple received it, it did not work.

The couple first tried to get a refund, then contacted the manufacturer about a repair.

That's when they learned that the radar system had been reported stolen from a Gloucester marina months earlier.

They contacted police. Searches of Martin and Budd's apartment, Martin's garage and two self-storage units turned up navigational systems, computers and other equipment.

Salem Detective Sgt. Eric Connolly believes Martin would prowl the marinas during winter months, steal the equipment and then let Budd, who was his girlfriend at the time, photograph it and post it on the auction Web site.

As recently as January, Budd was still fighting the federal charges, filing a motion to throw out incriminating statements she made to FBI agents who arrested her at Salem District Court back in February 2005.

Budd, a former schoolteacher, said she was coerced into making those statements because she was anxious to be released from custody to pick up her 9-year-old daughter that afternoon. The court had not ruled on the motion.

Martin, meanwhile, had been free on $10,000 bond in the federal case when he was charged in the doctor's office theft. Martin's sister, who had posted his bail, told investigators she suspected he was using the drug OxyContin.

Martin's bail was revoked last month, and he remains in custody, pending sentencing.

Budd, meanwhile, is free while she awaits sentencing. But Woodlock added two new conditions to her release: that she submit to random drug testing and take part in drug treatment.