Colfax man accused of stealing trade secrets from employer reaches plea deal
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A 42-year-old Colfax man has pleaded “no contest” and been found guilty of three misdemeanors related to stealing trade secrets from his employer.
Oscar E. Hernandez II appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court with his attorney, Daniel James Chapman, before Judge James Peterson on October 6 for a plea hearing.
Hernandez originally was charged with one felony count of taking, using or transferring trade secrets and two misdemeanor counts of computer crimes to modify data and to destroy data related to his employment at American Structures.
The defendant pleaded “no contest” to an amended charge of misdemeanor theft of movable property worth less than $2,500 and two misdemeanor charges of computer crimes to modify and destroy data.
Judge Peterson accepted Hernandez’s plea, found him guilty of the three misdemeanors, and withheld sentence, placed Hernandez on 18 months of probation, ordered him to have no contact with American Structures in the Town of Menomonie, and ordered him to pay court costs of $1,399 all together, according to online court records.
Restitution in the case has yet to be determined.
According to the criminal complaint, a Dunn County deputy was assigned January 15, 2022, to follow up on a report of a theft from American Structures located in the Town of Menomonie.
The company owner and the company’s manager said electronic data had been stolen that contained “blueprints” for their Prima Power Platino laser cutter, which cuts diagrams of stainless steel.
The blueprints are unique because they are developed and designed for each specific job for various customers.
The company owner said American Structures is a large-scale business which serves customers across the nation, the complaint states.
The company manager said Oscar Hernandez was a “disgruntled employee” who worked as a laser operator cutting steel for American Structures.
On Friday, January 7, 2022, Hernandez and another employee, David Campbell, left work together and both did not show up for work on Monday, January 10. Both employees were called but did not answer, and both had not been to work since and had not contacted the company, the manager said, according to the complaint.
Laser operator
The manager said he had assigned another employee who was somewhat trained on the laster to operate it in order to continue with the work orders, according to the complaint.
The employee informed the manager that the laser was not working and the blueprint data could not be located.
Prima, the company that manufactures the laser, was contacted, and a company representative remotely accessed the laser and notified the company manager that the blueprint data was no longer in the laser cutter memory storage system, the complaint states.
The company manager contacted the company’s information technology professional, who concluded that the main computer that holds and maintains the blueprint information had all of the “part files” deleted and that those files could not be recovered from the computer.
The IT person also said job folders under the “Oscar” profile had been compressed and had potentially been copied to an external storage device.
The owner of American Structures told the deputy that the loss of the blueprint files had “crippled” the company and that he feared Hernandez would present the blueprints to another competitor in the industry, the complaint states.
Flash-drive
The owner of American Structures explained that a flash-drive normally kept on the desk by the computer was missing and that the flash-drive was used daily to transfer blueprints to the laser cutters, according to the complaint.
On a shelf above the computer was a small toy steel truck that Hernandez had made.
The company owner said Hernandez loved the truck and that he was surprised Hernandez had not taken it with him. When the truck was inspected, the flash-drive was hidden inside, the complaint states.
The owner of American Structures said he had received an e-mail from Hernandez on January 7, and when the deputy read the e-mail, which was talking negatively about the company manager, the deputy said it seemed that Hernandez was very frustrated.
The owner of American Structures told the deputy that with the blueprint data missing, the company lost approximately $30,000 each day, according to the complaint.
The deputy asked if the company owner and the manager thought Campbell, the other employee who had not come back to work, could be part of the incident since they were seen leaving work together, but both of them said they did not believe Campbell would have the know-how to commit the crime since he is not a laser operator. They also said they did not know if Campbell had knowledge of what Hernandez had allegedly done, the complaint states.