Former tech exec convicted of stealing Legos

Thomas Langenbach pasted fake bar codes on Target packages. Thomas Langenbach pasted fake bar codes on Target packages. Photo: Associated Press Photo: Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Former tech exec convicted of stealing Legos 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A onetime Silicon Valley executive has been convicted of burglary in connection with an elaborate scheme to cheat Target stores out of Lego collector's blocks, prosecutors said Friday.

Thomas Langenbach, a former vice president at the software company SAP Labs in Palo Alto, accepted a plea deal Monday in Santa Clara County Superior Court, pleading no contest to one count of felony commercial burglary, said Deputy District Attorney Duffy Magilligan. In exchange for Langenbach's plea, prosecutors dropped three other burglary counts.

The agreement allows Langenbach, a legal resident immigrant, to escape possible deportation to his native Germany, said attorney Geoffrey Carr.

On Sept. 3, Judge Shelyna Brown is expected to sentence Langenbach to one month in county jail, five months of home detention with electronic monitoring, and three years of probation, Magilligan said.

Langenbach crafted fake bar codes and pasted them over the real thing on Lego packages in Target stores. The fakes gave Langenbach a steep discount, prosecutors said.

After purchasing the Legos, Langenbach sold them for a profit on eBay, authorities said. At least some of the Legos were valuable collector's items featuring "Star Wars" characters.

EBay told prosecutors that 2,100 items from Langenbach's account had been sold since April 2011, for a total of $30,000.

Hundreds of unopened Lego boxes were found in Langenbach's San Carlos home, authorities said.

Prosecutors said the thefts were puzzling, because the scam was labor-intensive and not particularly lucrative. Investigators said they had evidence to prove that bar codes were swapped on seven Lego sets, a loss to Target of $345.

Carr, his attorney, agreed that the scam was mystifying, saying: "$345 to him at his income level is like loose change in my sofa to me."

He said Langenbach's actions were the result of curiosity about how the bar code pricing system worked and not a desire to bilk Target.