Joseph Gutheinz

Joseph Gutheinz
Born	(1955-08-13) August 13, 1955
Nationality	American
Occupation	Educator, attorney, author, retired law enforcement officer

Joseph Richard Gutheinz (born August 13, 1955) is an American attorney, college instructor, commissioner, writer, and former Army intelligence officer, Army aviator, and Federal law enforcement officer. He is known as the founder of the "Moon Rock Project" which aims to track down missing Apollo moon rock samples.

He holds six college degrees from Monterey Peninsula College, California State University, Sacramento, the University of Southern California and South Texas College of Law, and eight teaching credentials and ten law licenses. He is an attorney at law (1996 to present) He has taught for Central Texas College, Alvin Community College and for the University of Phoenix from 2002 to present. He is a Commissioner on the Texas Commission on Fire Protection (2013–), having been appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry. He has served as a Member of the Texas Council on Sex Offender Treatment (2009 to 2012). He has served as a Member of the Texas Criminal Justice Advisory Committee on Medical and Mental Impairments (2004 to 2008). He is a former advisor to the Coalition for an Airline Passenger Bill of Rights.

NASA Office of Inspector General cases

Omniplan

Gutheinz led the 9 agency Omniplan task force investigation which resulted in the largest count indictment and conviction in NASA history. Omniplan had been a NASA prime contractor and subcontractor under Rockwell Space Operations Company (RSOC). In 1992 Gutheinz determined that Omniplan was submitting false claims to NASA through Rockwell, for buildings, vehicles and equipment that it claimed it was leasing through three companies, Mercury Trust, Space Industries Leasing and Space Industries Properties. These three companies were in fact shell companies controlled by Omniplan's owner Ralph Montijo, and the property was in fact owned by Montijo and not third parties. Gutheinz created a task force with 25 agents, inspectors, auditors and a financial analyst from eight agencies, the Defense Contract Audit Agency, FBI, Labor Racketeering, the United States Postal Inspection Service, Labor Pensions and Welfare, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, IRS CID, and the Harris County Appraisal District. After a four-year case Ralph Montijo was convicted on 179 felonies and adjudicated on one forfeiture count. Omniplan, Omnipoint Production Service, Mercury Trust, Papa Primos of Texas, and Papa Primo's of Arizona were also convicted and put out of business and Space Industries Leasing and Space Industries Properties were also put out of business by court order. In addition to Montijo and five of his companies, four associates of Montijo were also sentenced in this case, a case which FBI Director Louis Freeh called the most significant case in NASA history. Gutheinz's chief auditor on the case was Ronald Marta and the Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting this case was Cedric Joubert.

In 1995 Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin's economic advisors were given a two-hour briefing on the Omniplan case in building 265 at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Building 265 was the SCIF that housed the Omniplan task force. At that time building 265 was partially covered by a dirt mound and had an elaborate system of safe doors and cipher locks throughout the facility, to include a room for a dedicated hello line. The advisors were keen on how to create an Office of Inspector General within Russia. Gutheinz subsequently gave a speech to the International Business Forum about the Omniplan case, a speech attended by one of the principal defense attorneys in that case.

Arkansas Aerospace Education Center

Gutheinz served as the case agent in a joint investigation with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inspector General investigating the Arkansas Aerospace Education Center, this case was referred to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno by Whitewater Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr. Gutheinz was the affiant on two search warrants in this case and when his search warrants were executed his team of agents was augmented by FBI Agents assigned to Kenneth Starr's Whitewater investigation.

Rockwell International, United Space Alliance and Boeing North America

Gutheinz led the Rockwell, United Space Alliance and Boeing North America task force investigation that resulted in a Federal civil lawsuit and an out of court settlement. In the civil suit the government alleged that Rockwell Space Operation's Company knew of Omniplan's fraudulent leases and failed to properly disclose that information to NASA or law enforcement.

Jerry Whittredge

Gutheinz conducted the investigation, made the arrest and testified against Jerry Alan Whittredge, the so-called "Great Astronaut Impersonator". Whittredge attended astronaut parties, received VIP tours of Navy bases, obtained schematics to the Space Shuttle propulsion system and talked his way into NASA Mission Control during a mission. He also claimed to be an astronaut, CIA Regent, CIA assassin, former Marine Corps Force Recon Vietnam veteran, Top Gun Trophy Winner and a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. Whittredge was in fact an engineer by training, a Senior Parachute Rigger, skydiver, long distance runner, active in martial arts, and had an airline transport pilot's license. Whittredge came to Gutheinz's attention after he tried to meet the commanding officer of Pensacola Naval Air Station in order to fly Navy jets there while awaiting, he claimed, his first space mission as an astronaut.

Russian space program and Mir investigation

Gutheinz investigated the Russian space program and the fire and collision on the Mir space station, a case referred to in Bryan Burrough's Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir. His investigation had four phases. The first dealt with his investigation of million dollar homes at Star City, Russia with an unknown funding source; the burglary of American astronaut homes at Star City, the theft of building supplies and American vehicles at Star City, surveillance of astronauts at Star City, unsafe working conditions at Star City and allegations that Russian cosmonauts were being paid twice, once by Russia and a second time by America. The second phase pertained to his investigation of the fire and safety problems on board the Russian Mir space station; safety problems at the TsUP (Russia's mission control); communication problems with Mir; and allegations that Russia had concealed facts about the duration, intensity and seriousness of the Mir fire. The third phase dealt with the crash of the Progress resupply craft into the Spektr module; and the violation of procedure by failing to abandon Mir when the Spektr hatch to Mir could not be timely closed. The last phase pertained to stolen Pre-launch Assessment Review (PAR) tapes that were found to have been taken after Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner's House Committee on Science and Technology requested them for hearings into the Mir. Gutheinz was able to reconstruct what was on the tapes by interviewing the participants in those discussions and learned that many believed the Mir was a disaster waiting to happen.

Operation Lunar Eclipse

Gutheinz led and went undercover in Operation Lunar Eclipse, a sting operation to recover the Honduras Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock.

The Honduras Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock had been offered to Gutheinz for 5 million dollars, and Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot put up the money which facilitated the moon rock's recovery. The three agencies in Operation Lunar Eclipse were NASA Office of Inspector General (SSA Joseph Gutheinz aka Tony Coriasso), the United States Postal Inspection Service (Inspector Bob Cregger aka John Marta) and United States Customs (SA David Attwood and SA Dwight Weikel). Operation Lunar Eclipse was designed to catch con-artists selling terrestrial rocks and dust and offering them as Apollo era moon rocks and lunar dust. Upon determining that the seller of the Honduras Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock was selling a genuine Apollo era moon rock, Gutheinz investigated further and determined that there was a lack of accountability on all the Apollo 11 and 17 Moon Rocks and lunar dust that the Nixon, Ford and Carter Administrations gifted away to the states and nations of the world. Gutheinz had previously requested, in 1998-1999, that NASA OIG attempt to account for the gifted moon rocks and lunar dust. In December 2011 NASA OIG revealed the finding of an audit they conducted on loaned, not gifted, Apollo era lunar samples, which revealed a lack of accountability by both NASA and the recipient individuals and entities.

Federal service awards

Gutheinz has awards from six Federal agencies and one state for his governmental service. These awards include the NASA Exceptional Service Medal; the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency Career Achievement Award; the NASA Superior Accomplishment Award (Special Act or Service) for his investigation of the Russian Mir Space Station fire and collision; a Special Commendation from the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas as well as a Letter of Commendation from the Director of the FBI, for his leadership of the Omniplan task force investigation; a Certificate of Appreciation from the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas for his leadership in the Lockheed-Martin investigation; a United States Department of Transportation Certificate of Achievement for Superior Performance for his investigation of the Denver Airport and pilots covered by the FBI/FAA pilot match program; and the Honor Graduate Pin from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center as well as a Letter of Commendation from the Department of Treasury, for graduating first in his class in the Criminal Investigators Course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia.

Law and order

Gutheinz has been a critic of the criminal justice system in the United States. He has argued that not enough has been done to integrate grand juries; he has argued that defendants with mental illnesses should enjoy additional rights and safeguards, and he has fought for the humane treatment of inmates.

Aviation safety and security

Technical rendition of STS-71 docked to Mir

Gutheinz has been on national news shows, been quoted in numerous print publications and has written several stories about aviation safety and security. His activism over aviation safety and security began when he was a student aviator and saw a friend die in a helicopter crash at the U.S. Army flight school and continued thereafter with his past association as an advisor and spokesperson for the Coalition for an Airline Passenger Bill of Rights.

Gutheinz is a supporter of the 2nd Amendment, but a critic of guns on planes and in the classrooms. He has argued that pilots should not be armed and that TSA Air Marshals should only draw their weapons to protect life.

Gutheinz wrote an Op/Ed for the Vernon Daily Record criticizing Harold ISD School District decision to allow elementary school teachers to be armed with handguns in the classroom.

Gutheinz is a supporter of manned and unmanned space missions. However he is a critic of NASA's inclination to downplay and conceal mistakes and unnecessary risks. As a NASA OIG Senior Special Agent he refused to back down from his investigations of problems of the space shuttle fleet and the Russian Mir Space Station. Since retiring from NASA he has been highly critical of NASA's handling of the Columbia disaster and post Columbia decisions.

The Moon Rock Project

Main article: Stolen and missing moon rocks

Gutheinz created and led The Moon Rock Project at the University of Phoenix, a project where criminal justice graduate students investigated and tracked down missing Apollo 11 lunar samples and Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rocks.

Moon rocks retained by state governors

Gutheinz and his students have assisted in successfully tracking down 79 missing Apollo 11 lunar samples and Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rocks and plaques, including three that were retained by Governor John Vanderhoof of Colorado, Governor Arch Moore, Jr. of West Virginia, and Governor Kit Bond of Missouri. On March 16, 2013, the Oprah Winfrey Network's television show Lost and Found aired a show titled "Unbelievable Mysteries Solved", which included Gutheinz, his former graduate student Sandra Shelton, and the recovery of the West Virginia Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock.

Cyprus' Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock

In 2009 Associated Press reporter Toby Sterling took interest in Gutheinz's Moon Rock Project and then enlisted the efforts of other AP reporters. With Gutheinz's assistance they tracked down additional moon rocks. One of the reporters who contacted Gutheinz was Lucy Millet of the Cyprus Mail. Gutheinz told Millet that since 2002 his students had been looking for both the Cyprus Apollo 11 lunar samples and Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock, and had concluded that both were taken or destroyed during Cyprus civil disturbances of 1973 and 1974. On the same day that the Cyprus Mail story appeared stating that both of the Cyprus moon rocks had been taken, Robert Pearlman of Collect Space.com informed Gutheinz that the Cyprus Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock had never been presented to Cyprus, but was in the possession of a deceased American diplomat's child whose father worked at the American Embassy in Cyprus. Pearlman reportedly notified NASA Office of Inspection General in 2003 about the whereabouts of the moon rock. Gutheinz, who had been in contact with Cyprus since 2002, knew that those in authority there were in the dark about its whereabouts, believing that both moon rock displays had been presented to Cyprus. Gutheinz notified Cyprus authorities and members of American Embassy about the status of the Cyprus Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Then he opted to publicize its status to persuade the possessor to turn it in. He also asked for a Congressional investigation. Subsequently, the NASA Office of Inspector General was notified in November 2009 that the Law Office of Akin and Gump had the missing Moon Rock, which they received from a client. On April 16, 2010 the NASA Office of Inspector General at Johnson Space Center took custody of the rock. Gutheinz has written two stories asking America to turn over the Cyprus Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock to Cyprus, as he opines that it is the property of Cyprus and not America.

Malta's Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock

On or around February 18, 2004 the Maltese Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock was stolen from the Malta Museum of Nature and History. Gutheinz was called during the early morning hours by a student and told about the theft. He began to look into the theft, and became convinced that only an amateur would have left behind the self-authenticating plaque. He subsequently urged Malta to announce an amnesty period for its safe recovery and offered a reward of $10,000 from his own funds for anyone who would turn in the moon rock to the authorities. The amnesty period he requested was never offered and the moon rock is still missing.

Romanian Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock

University of Phoenix graduate student Rebecca Lyford and other students participating in the Moon Rock Project since 2002, have attempted to find the Romanian Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock, which Lyford determined was sold by the estate of the late dictator of Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu, and his wife Elena. Gutheinz took issue with the Romanian newspaper Jurnalul Național over its contention that Romania never received the Romanian Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock, and upon Gutheinz proving the paper evidence to the contrary, the paper wrote a new story admitting that the expert information they were provided was incorrect and that Romania did indeed receive both the Romanian Apollo 11 lunar samples and Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Romania's Apollo 11 Moon Rock is at the National History Museum in Bucharest.

Canada's Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock

In 2002, Gutheinz first assigned his University of Phoenix students to track down Canada's Apollo 17 Moon Rock. Their efforts discerned that the moon rock and plaque were unaccounted for and believed stolen decades earlier. Gutheinz's students tracked down the moon rock to a storage facility at the Canadian Museum of Nature. In 2009 Gutheinz and his students pressured Canada and the Museum to place the Canadian Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock on display for the 40th anniversary Apollo 11. The moon rock was transferred to the Canadian Science and Technology Museum and placed on display in 2009.

Ireland's Apollo 11 Moon Rock

Student investigator Cleo Luff determined that Ireland's Apollo 11 Moon Rock had been involved in a fire at the Dunsink Observatory in 1977, and then accidentally thrown away in the Finglas dump (landfill). On April 22, 2007, Gutheinz was called the world's foremost authority on stolen moon rocks by the Irish Mail. He gave the history of Ireland's Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock in that story which at the time of the article Gutheinz said was at risk of being stolen from the National Museum of Dublin, due to poor security. Gutheinz advised that when Ireland's President Childers died in office in 1974 his wife Rita asked to keep it for sentimental reasons. Gutheinz said Ireland did the correct thing by telling Rita Childers "no".

Hawaii's Apollo 11 and 17 moon rocks

Gutheinz assigned one of his graduate students the task of tracking down Hawaii's Apollo 11 and 17 Goodwill Moon Rocks. The student did locate a moon rock given to a facility in Hawaii to honor of the late astronaut, Lieutenant Colonel Ellison Onizuka (USAF) who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, but the student was unable to find the moon rocks. Gutheinz made his own inquiries and discerned evidence that some time earlier, in a prior administration, both moon rocks had been on display in the Hawaiian Governor's Office. According to the Maui News, Gutheinz was told to contact the Hawaii State Archives by a staffer in the Governor's Office. The branch chief of the Archives Office advised Gutheinz the following in an email:, "I regret to inform you that the Hawaii State Archives not only does not have the moon rocks, but we have never had them! Also, I have no idea where they are." After sending inquiries to every museum, planetarium and university in the state as well as several state agencies Gutheinz advised the Honolulu Adviser newspaper that the moon rocks were nowhere to be found. A few months later when the Governor's office staff was conducting an inventory of its storage lots, they found both moon rock displays. They have since entered both the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 moon rocks into an inventory control system. Gutheinz advises that "when you don't know you have an item, you won't know when someone steals it".

Minnesota's Apollo 11 moon rock

On November 26, 2012 Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Olson, Director for Public Affairs of the Minnesota National Guard, contacted Gutheinz and advised him that a Minnesota National Guardsman had found Minnesota's long missing Apollo 11 lunar samples and display in storage at the Veteran's Service Building in St. Paul, Minnesota. Gutheinz was asked to accept calls from the press about the uniqueness of this find and to participate in a press conference in Minnesota on November 28, 2012, when the lunar artifact would be presented to the Minnesota Historical Society for safekeeping by the Adjutant General of the Minnesota National Guard. Gutheinz did as requested and addressed the news conference for about three minutes via Skype, from his Friendswood Texas office. In Lt. Col Olson's introduction of Gutheinz he called Gutheinz "the foremost expert on the status of Goodwill Moon Rocks".

Other moon rocks

Gutheinz and his students have departed from their search for Apollo 11 and 17 moon rocks to address the concerns of individuals who claim to have found moon rocks or who acquired moon rocks from their deceased scientist/parents' estates. When Gutheinz believes a person may have a real moon rock he has advised him/her to turn it over to NASA; has assigned students the task of looking into that persons claim; or has asked the possessor to join his personal Facebook account where he and his former students will ask follow-up questions. In a widely covered story Gutheinz traveled to Buffalo, Texas, in 2012 to look at an alleged Apollo era moon rock being sold on EBay for $300,000. Gutheinz has also been critical of NASA's handling of moon rocks to include loaned moon rocks and the lack of security some temporary recipients have provided to America's Apollo era lunar samples.

Moon Rock Project in popular culture

Because of Gutheinz's efforts to find missing and stolen moon rocks for over a decade he has acquired a nickname: "The Moon Rock Hunter". This nickname was originally given to Gutheinz by his graduate students, as a joking takeoff on "The Crocodile Hunter".

Two documentaries have been made, Moon for Sale (2007) and Lunarcy! (2012), and Michigan State University is also producing a documentary about the Moon Rock Project entitled "Missing Moon Rocks". The film is directed by director Troy Hale and features Gutheinz and Robert Pearlman of CollectSpace.com. In December 2012 it was announced that Troy Hale will be entering the Michigan State Emmy competition with a 3-minute "short documentary" on moon rocks, featuring Pearlman, Gutheinz and several of Gutheinz's students. Jonathan Gutheinz, a film major at the University of Texas Arlington, filmed a meeting between Rafael Navarro, Associated Press reporter Michael Graczyk and Gutheinz when Gutheinz examined what Navarro had claimed to be lunar dust.

Publications and other work

Gutheinz has written four magazine stories about the Moon Rock Project and the moon:

• November 2004 story for Geotimes Magazine, "In Search of the Goodwill Moon Rocks: A Personal Account".
• September 2008 article for Earth Magazine, "Settling the Moon: A Home Away From Home".
• March 2011 story in Earth Magazine , "A Decade-plus of Tracking Lunar Larceny".
• January 2012 article in Earth Magazine, "Dirty Little Secrets about Moon Rocks".
• On October 1, 2012 Gutheinz spoke to the Goddard Space Flight Center to the Engineering Colloquium about Operation Lunar Eclipse and the Moon Rock Project.
• On October 9, 2012, the CBS action drama NCIS aired an episode entitled "Phoenix". The writer and co-producer Steven Binder acquired information from Gutheinz which he used in writing the story.

See also

• The Case of the Missing Moon Rocks
• Missouri lunar sample displays
• John David Vanderhoof
• Arch A. Moore, Jr.
• West Virginia lunar sample displays
• Illinois lunar sample displays
• Cyprus lunar sample displays
• Robert Pearlman
• Malta lunar sample displays
• Norway lunar sample displays
• Romania lunar sample displays
• Apollo 17 lunar sample display
• Apollo 11 lunar sample display
• Phoenix (NCIS)
• "Unbelievable Mysteries Solved"
• Jerry M. Linenger

Further reading

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