A California man who earlier this year tried to fraudulently take possession of two Dell computer servers being delivered to West Hartford pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted first-degree larceny as part of a plea agreement.
Under the terms of the deal, Mikhail Lev, 42, of Encino, Calif., was able to avoid jail.
Lev, who has been traveling from his home in California to Hartford Superior Court for appearances, pleaded guilty before Judge Laura F. Baldini. The agreement was negotiated by Lev’s lawyer, Michael Chambers Jr., and prosecutor Robin Krawczyk.
Previously, Lev applied for accelerated rehabilitation, a special form of probation for first-time, non-violent offenders, that allows them to avoid jail and a criminal record after completing a period of probation. Baldini rejected that request, saying she was troubled by what she described as an intricate conspiracy.
Krawczyk opposed the accelerated rehabilitation application, citing the seriousness of the charges and Lev’s role in an ongoing federal investigation.
Chambers urged Baldini to give Lev accelerated rehabilitation, arguing that his client was forced to participate in the scheme, which involved stealing two computer servers valued at more than $100,000 from Dell. Lev was in debt to some bad people and was “low on the totem pole” in the conspiracy, Chambers argued. “He was caught in a bad situation with some nefarious people, dangerous people,” he said.
West Hartford police arrested Lev on Jan. 19 after he tried to take possession of two Dell PowerEdge R940 servers that were fraudulently ordered and scheduled to be delivered to a man named Martin Gates at the Armory Building at 836 Farmington Ave. in West Hartford.
The Secret Service, working with Dell security staff, notified West Hartford police, and together they set up a sting.
The person who placed the order claimed that two other Dell servers were damaged in shipment, according to police. The Secret Service confirmed through Dell that the original servers were with the company that purchased them and were functioning, and that the order placed for delivery to West Hartford was fraudulent, according to a police report.
Police and federal agents were watching when a truck hauling the servers arrived at 836 Farmington Ave. and was flagged down by a man in the parking lot.
The truck driver unloaded the servers and the man who had flagged him down signed for them. The truck then drove off.
The man who flagged down the truck, later identified as Lev, retrieved a hand truck and began to load one of the servers into a rented vehicle when police moved in.
Lev was wearing a lanyard around his neck with an ID card with his photo, the name Martin Gates and the name of the computer company that placed the original order for the servers.
Police seized the vehicle, Lev’s cellphones and the computer servers. Lev offered to tell police everything if he could get a deal that would allow him to walk out the door. No deal was in the offing and Lev declined to provide details.
Lev, a native of Belarus, admitted that he knew the transaction was fraudulent and that it did seem odd he’d travel all the way to Connecticut to make the transaction, officials said.
Krawczyk said she agreed to the plea deal because Dell recovered the servers and suffered no loss, and because Lev does not have a criminal record.
