Former Kodak manager gets12 months in prison

Reid Ackley//November 13, 1997//

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Harold Worden, a retired Eastman Kodak Co. manager who pleaded guilty to stealing company secrets, today received a sentence of 12 months in federal prison and a $30,000 fine.
For the remainder of his 15-month split sentence, Worden was ordered confined to his home in Santee, S.C., wearing an electronic ankle bracelet. In addition, he will be supervised for three years upon release and be required to perform 100 hours of community service.
Worden pleaded guilty a few months ago to a felony count of taking stolen property from his former employer across state lines.
During his 28 years with Kodak, Worden served as project manager for the machine that makes the acetate base for consumer film. After retiring in 1991, he began a consulting business staffed with other former Kodak workers.
A civil suit filed by Kodak accuses Worden of leading former employees to steal company information to sell to competitors. In 1996, FBI agents found thousands of documents in Worden’s home, clearly labeled with the Kodak name.
The action, which also names former Kodak employee Kurt Strobl of Webster, is still pending in federal court.
Worden’s attorney, David Rothenberg, today asked U.S. District Court Judge Michael Telesca to consider a split sentence with minimal time in prison because of Worden’s family obligations and background of community service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Martin Littlefield, on the other hand, pushed for the maximum amount of prison time under the plea agreement.
Telesca emphasized the seriousness of the case, in which Worden admitted attempting to sell trade secrets to Kodak agents posing as Chinese officials who wanted to build an acetate factory.
“Your actions placed an important entity of this country in jeopardy,” Telesca said to Worden. “Your actions have national and international impact–just for a few bucks.”
Telesca said he had difficulty accepting the recommended sentence of 15 months but agreed to it only because Worden said he would cooperate with Kodak and federal authorities in their investigations into other industrial espionage.
Kodak has accused a Michigan gelatin capsule company of buying information supplied by Worden. In a case filed here in state Supreme Court, the photo giant seeks $1 million in damages from R.P. Scherer and an injunction to prevent the Troy company from making further use of proprietory information.