A former baggage-handling crew chief at O`Hare International Airport pleaded guilty Monday to stealing about $60,000 in cash from a traveler`s bag in 1990, admitting he stuffed some of the money into his lunch pail.
Charles Dentley, 31, also admitted stealing two cameras and a laptop computer from other passengers and selling them to an undercover FBI agent, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Ross Silverman.
Dentley was one of 16 O`Hare baggage handlers charged in May with breaking into and stealing thousands of dollars worth of items from baggage entering and leaving the airport.
The charges resulted from an FBI sting operation, known as Operation Grab Bag, in which an undercover agent posed as a regular baggage handler for six months.
Dentley, who was employed as a crew chief by Dynair Corp., discovered several bundles of cash inside a partially opened zippered bag at O`Hare on Jan. 30, 1990, Silverman said.
When Dentley pulled the bag from a conveyor belt, several stacks of cash fell onto the floor, Silverman said.
Kenneth White, another Dynair employee, joined Dentley, and the two picked up the cash and helped themselves to more bundles of currency in the bag. The theft totaled about $60,000, Silverman said.
White, 24, of 221 E. 121st Pl., has pleaded guilty to taking about $19,900, Silverman said.
Dentley apparently stole about $40,000, stuffing several bundles of cash into his lunch pail.
Dentley and White have agreed to cooperate with the government and testify against the other baggage handlers, officials said.
Dentley, of 7818 S. Rhodes Ave., faces up to 10 months in prison when he is sentenced in November by U.S. District Judge John Nordberg.
