Siblings Sent to Prison in Laptop Theft Scheme That Cost Stanford Millions

A former Stanford University employee and her brother were sentenced to federal prison terms this week for their roles in a scheme in which hundreds of laptop computers were ordered on behalf of the university but sold for private gain — thefts that cost the institution millions of dollars over several years.

The woman, Patricia Castaneda, 38, who worked at Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Sacramento to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $4 million in restitution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California said