PENNSYLVANIA COMPUTER THIEF GETS PROBATION http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/25/2009/september/11/man-gets-probation-for-stealing-laptops-from-mental-health-agency-1/print.html

Man gets probation for stealing laptops from mental health agency
By: MARGARET GIBBONS Bucks County Courier Times

A Norristown man received a four-year probation sentence Friday for ripping off a Lansdale nonprofit mental health agency where he had been employed.

Adam Scott Wolbransky, 26, of the 1000 block of New Hope Street, will also have to pay $6,600 in restitution and perform 36 hours of community service while serving probation on charges of theft and conspiracy.

Similar charges remain pending against Arlynne Gulden, 23, Wolbransky's live-in girlfriend at the time but who has since become his wife.

The charges against the pair stem from the July 2008 theft of 14 new notebook computers from Northwestern Human Services.

The computers, having a combined value of $14,000, were purchased with Montgomery County grant funds. The agency, which provides services to the mentally challenged, had purchased the computers for its social workers to use during outpatient visits with clients.

The computers arrived at the agency a day before the theft and were locked in an office over the weekend. The theft was discovered the next day, a Monday, when workers returned to the office.

With no visible signs of a break-in, authorities focused on agency employees.

Pursuing the investigation, police went on the Internet and discovered that computers similar to those that were stolen were being offered for sale on craigslist.org.

An undercover state police officer made contact with the seller, a Philadelphia man who, with his wife, operated an online business that buys and sells electronic products.

The undercover officer made an initial purchase and found that the serial number on that computer matched the number of one of the stolen computers.

The seller, who was selling the computers for about $1,000 each, subsequently agreed to cooperate with police, advising them he had purchased six computers for a total of $1,850 from Wolbransky.

Matching Wolbransky's name with the agency's list of employees, authorities brought him in for questioning. During that interview, Wolbransky admitted the pair had stolen the computers because they were experiencing financial problems, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities recovered some of the computers but others had already been sold.

Margaret Gibbons can be reached at 610-279-6153 or mgibbons@phillyBurbs.com.