Internet moon rock salesman jailed

A MAN convicted of trying to sell moon rocks stolen from NASA over the internet has been jailed for nearly six years in Florida.

Gordon McWhorter had faced a possible 25-year sentence after being found guilty of stealing property of value to the United States and transporting stolen property interstate.

The 27-year-old from Salt Lake City, Utah, was one of four people arrested in an FBI sting that began when a Belgian rock collector tipped off investigators about offers on the internet to sell moon rocks for€900 to €4,000 a gram.

The moon rocks stolen last year from NASA’sJohnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, came from every Apollo mission from 1969 to 1972.

The US Attorney’s Office said the moon rocks and a Martian meteorite were worth at least €4 million in 1973. With inflation, that would make them worth more than €17 million in 2003. A true market value was not established.

McWhorter was the only one of the defendants who did not plead guilty to the thefts. He was sentenced in Orlando to five years and 10 months.

Former NASA interns Tiffany Fowler, 26, and Shae Saur, 20, were sentenced to 180 days house arrest and ordered to pay more than €7,000 restitution to NASA.

Fellow former intern Thad Roberts, 26, who testified against McWhorter, has a sentencing hearing scheduled in October.