Subcontractor Owes Mississippi Navy Base for Stolen Tools

A 61-year-old Long Beach man has been fined $1,000 and ordered to repay the Navy nearly $5,000 for tools stolen while he worked as a civilian subcontractor at the Seabee Base in Gulfport, Miss.

The Sun Herald reports Joseph Daniel Carden also will be on probation three years as part of a plea agreement to a charge of theft of government property.

U.S. Attorney John Dowdy says Carden stole the tools while he worked at the auto-body repair shop at the Naval Construction Battalion Center’s construction equipment division.

Court papers show the tools were taken between October 1, 2001, and July 31, 2008.

Carden pleaded guilty Aug. 25 and was sentenced Nov. 22 by U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. The judge ordered restitution of near $5,000.