The former SAP vice president who spent his spare time ticket-switching Lego price tags at Santa Clara Target stores is going to prison.
Thomas Langenbach pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of felony burglary, after reaching a plea agreement, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
He was arrested on May 8, 2012 while buying an X-Wing Starfighter at a local Target. When police searched his home, they found boxes and boxes of Magma Monsters, Indiana Jones toys, and assorted figurines.
“It really looked like a mini Legoland,” said Cindy Hendrickson, Supervising Deputy District Attorney with the Santa Clara County D.A.’s office in an interview last year.
At the time, Langenbach was a vice president with SAP Labs' Integration and Certification Center, the group that tests software to make sure it works properly with SAP's back-end business systems. He was sacked by SAP in September 2012, a company spokesman says. Langenbach couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
Authorities say that Langenbach made more than $30,000 selling Legos on eBay, where he did business under the seller name "Tomsbrickyard." He would print up low-value Universal Product Code (UPC) tickets at home, and then slap them on more expensive items at the store so he could purchase them at a discount.
His eBay ratings were 99.9 percent positive.
Langenbach will serve one month in jail, and then another five months under house arrest. He will also serve three years' probation. News of his sentencing was first reported by Palo Alto Online.
