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The FBI says it was able to identify the thief who stole brand-new Apple iPads from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by tracking down the people who used the machines to make purchases from iTunes.
The case involves the theft of five iPads from NOAA late last year.
Federal prosecutor Tracy Hino said in U.S. District Court on Monday that NOAA purchased 10 iPads in September 2012 for $7,280 — $629 each, plus $99 for an extended warranty for each machine.
Contract receptionist Jennifer Robiniol, 32, told U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson that she received delivery of the machines and put them in the agency’s information technology office. There were two boxes, each containing five iPads.
Robiniol said she later took one of the boxes, gave one of the iPads to her mother and another one to her goddaughter. She didn’t tell Watson what she did with the other machines. She did say, however, that she did not intend to sell any of them.
NOAA discovered the theft in March.
The FBI obtained records of iTunes purchases made using the machines and found one person who has the last name Robiniol.
Robiniol pleaded guilty Monday to theft. She faces sentencing in May.
Hino said authorities recovered only one of the missing iPads and that the value of the missing four is $2,912.
