FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	August 6, 2012
Docket #: 1:12-cr-047-LJO-SKO

FRESNO, Calif. —Robin Neal Vanderheiden, aka Jeremy Wayne Patrick, 32, of Modesto, was sentenced today to 16 months in prison by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill for conspiring to steal federal property from the Modesto Airport, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Judge O’Neill ordered Vanderheiden to pay $60,000 to the Federal Aviation Administration for the damage caused to the Modesto Airport.

According to court documents, on several occasions in January 2012, Vanderheiden and co-defendant and Kody Estepp, 22, of Modesto, broke into lighting towers at the Modesto Airport and stole copper wire from the enclosed systems. The copper wire is owned by the Federal Aviation Administration. They sold the stolen copper wire in return for cash or illegal narcotics.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General and the Modesto Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Grant B. Rabenn is prosecuting the case.

Estepp is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10, 2012 by Judge O’Neill. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

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