After allegedly selling stolen items on eBay, an LSA senior is scheduled to appear in court next week, charged with three 10-year felonies.

Stephen Warrington, 27, is facing one count of breaking and entering, one count of concealing and stealing property worth more than $20,000 and one count of using a computer to commit a crime.

He was released on bond after being arraigned over the weekend, and his preliminary hearing is slated for Feb. 20.

Warrington, who had been breaking and entering the windows of area businesses since last summer, had no previous convictions or arrests, Washtenaw County Sheriff"s Detective Ron Blackwell said.

Blackwell said Warrington is unlike the typical burglar. "He was very cooperative and he accepted his responsibility from the moment when I sat down and talked with him," he said.

"I was very surprised that he is a student," Blackwell said. "He"s actually a pretty good kid other than the mistakes he made."

Blackwell said authorities may not have discovered Warrington if he had not made himself vulnerable by stealing and selling such unique equipment.

"It"s like when a $2,000 Gateway laptop is on eBay for $250. If it smells too good to be true, something is wrong," Blackwell said.

Warrington is accused of selling computers, digital video cameras and tools on the online auction site. He was caught after a satellite global positioning system posted on eBay this month alarmed a potential buyer.

"The surveying community throughout the U.S. is a tightknit group of people," Blackwell said.

The customer, who resides in California, called the equipment manufacturer representative at Leica Corporation, who checked the serial number. The equipment was a commercial lease to Washtenaw Engineering, Blackwell said.

Currently the sheriff"s department is in the process of tracking down individuals who may have purchased the stolen equipment on eBay so it can be returned to the rightful owners.

Blackwell said the department can use search warrants to obtain records from eBay of what Warrington has sold.

University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said students can also face sanctions under the Student Code of Conduct after violating state or federal law.

Peterson said the University is prohibited from making an official statement on Warrington"s arrest because of the Family and Educational Right to Privacy Act of 1974.

"It protects students" academic and disciplinary records," she said.

Although she could not confirm whether Warrington would face a Code hearing for the thefts and fraud, Peterson said, "behavior of that nature could be pursued under the current Student Code."

Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecutor John Reiser said a detective from Pittsfield Township will also be involved in the investigation, as different police departments are working together.

Internet crimes have posed difficulties for law enforcement agencies regarding their jurisdiction over the incidents.

"As the Internet evolves, it is obviously going to evolve in the criminal aspect as well," Blackwell said. "The Internet is going to be the new avenue for law enforcement."