Ex-PSU employee confesses to theft of $312K in university electronics

Daniel Korpenfelt, a former lab technician at Portland State, has plead guilty to stealing $312,000 worth of electronic equipment from the university, which he stole and sold online over the course of three years, according to an Oct. 23 Oregonian article.

Korpenfelt, who had been working at PSU for the past eight years, plead guilty to charges of theft and aggravated theft, reversing a not-guilty plea he entered in February.

Korpenfelt was given a 57-month sentence, according to The Oregonian.

Korpenfelt was caught selling Tektronix machines, used to measure electronic signals in devices such as computers and cell phones, to private buyers online after a machine was returned to Tektronix for repairs.

Buyers from Intercal, a Medford-based company, would often meet Korpenfelt on campus, where he would help load the 40-lb machines into their vehicles. Korpenfelt told Intercal employees that PSU was not using the equipment and therefore he was able to sell it.

Eventually, some stolen equipment ended up in a California repair shop, leading to Korpenfelt’s arrest.Korpenfelt, 53, made a total of $60,550 in personal profit, which he used to supplement his $43,476 income, The Oregonian said. He was fired from the university Jan. 18.