Wood-Ridge Homeland Security Agent Accused of Stealing Government Property, Selling It on eBay

Wood-Ridge resident Steven Kucan, 47, a longtime supervisory special agent with the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was arrested Tuesday morning on charges of theft for allegedly stealing government property and selling it on eBay, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office - District of New Jersey.

Kucan is expected to appear before U.S. District Judge Mark Fall in federal court in Newark Tuesday afternoon. He has been charged with one count of theft of government  property, according to the statement released by the U.S. attorney's office.

A criminal complaint from the U.S. District Court - District of NJ states that Kucan, who was responsible for obtaining, storing and controlling ICE equipment at the ICE offices in New York, had regularly stolen property between December 2004 and February 2011.

The complaint went on to state that Kucan allegedly maintained an eBay account in the name of an elderly relative through which he sold approximately $37,000 worth  of ICE property. The complaint says that the stolen items included printer cartridges, film, batteries, camera lenses, combat lights for ICE’s M-4 rifles and an immersion suit designed to prevent hypothermia in cold water.

The complaint also states that Kucan was seen by ICE employees wheeling property out of offices on carts. One witness claims to have seen him remove property on a Saturday.  Employees also stated that Kucan maintained several storage room at the ICE-NY office location to which he only had access, accoding to the complaint, and that he also had keys and access to several storage facilities and parking garages used by ICE's NY office.

According to the complaint, agents searched Kucan's Wood-Ridge home in February and found numerous items of ICE propert, including personal computers, printers, keyboards, police batons, flashlights, work gloves, safety glasses, lifejackets, helmets, handcuffs, gun holsters, camera lenses, emergency lights and sirens, and two-way radio systems–items with a total value of approximately $40,000.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office,  Kucan has been responsible for obtaining, storing and controlling office equipment and supplies since the 1990s and has been on administrative leave since February 2011.

The charge against Kucan carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.