Man gets probation in toner-stealing scheme

Asdrubel Sampayo, 31, formerly of Federal Way was sentenced June 13 to five years probation for mail fraud.

Sampayo was involved in a scheme to steal and then sell toner cartridges, said Emily Langlie, public affairs officer for the United States Attorney’s Office. Sampayo signed a plea agreement in the case this past February. The agreement stated that between June and October 2005 Sampayo worked as a Xerox customer service engineer. His job required him to occasionally service copy machines at a Boeing facility.

In this capacity, Sampayo placed an order for 18 shipments of toner cartridges, valued at more than $490,000, according to the plea agreement. He documented the Boeing request for the materials under several false identities, according to the agreement.

Xerox became suspicious when it realized the orders were unusually large. The company was also unable to locate Boeing employees with the names listed on the order for the cartridges.

In October 2005, Boeing security officers witnessed Sampayo loading a shipment of cartridges into his company van, according to Langlie. Upon further investigation, records from eBay and PayPal indicated that Sampayo had sold nine cartridges online in August 2005 and a relative of his had sold 934 cartridges online for more than $135,000.

An account at the Washington Mutual in Federal Way held about $38,000 from the relative’s PayPal account, according to Langlie. Sampayo had also made large deposits to the same account, she said.

Sampayo has agreed to pay Xerox $392,902.