New Mexico School District Employee Sentenced For Part in Scheme Stealing Students’ iPods

A school district employee in New Mexico named Kristy Stock has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for being part of a scheme looking to steal and resell over 3,000 iPods. Engadget reported the devices were meant to go to Native American students.
While overseeing the program, Stock was supposed to use federal grant money to buy iPods to distribute to students. However, thanks to help from other conspirators including her friend James Bender and Saurabh Chawla, the group ended up shipping the stolen iPods to Maryland where they were listed on eBay before being sold at a “substantial” markup. Due to his own account having previously been suspended due to security concerns, Chawla was forced to use Bender’s eBay account to list the stolen devices for auction, with Bender serving as an intermediary. Later, between 2015 and 2018, Stock communicated directly with Chawla, providing info on the make, model, color and quantity of devices before agreeing on a price and putting them up for auction.
Tags: iPod