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Charges: UMN Worker Stole $134,000 In Computers From School

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Authorities say a former University of Minnesota employee is accused of using school funds to purchase 78 computers over 14 months and sell them for personal profit.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports Hennepin County District Court records show 34-year-old Michael James McDaniel is charged with four counts of felony theft by swindle involving computers worth $134,544.

McDaniel is accused of making the acquisitions from September 2017 to October 2018 while employed as an analyst and administrative adviser in the university's Center for Magnetic Resonance Research. He was fired in November.

University police say McDaniel pawned the computers or sold them via Craigslist. He accumulated over $125,000 in cash bank deposits in that time.

He separately admitted to stealing iPads from Target stores.

He's due back in court April 8.

(© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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