BOWLING GREEN - The former manager of the Northwest Ohio Regional Book Depository pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing more than $400,000 in electronics and computer equipment from Bowling Green State University then selling the merchandise on the Internet.

Michael McHugh, 44, of Bowling Green pleaded guilty to theft in office and telecommunications fraud, both third-degree felonies. Held in the Wood County jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bond since his arrest on Dec. 1, McHugh is to be sentenced May 7 by Wood County Common Pleas Judge Reeve Kelsey.

Each of the charges carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, although in the plea agreement McHugh entered into, prosecutors said they would recommend two years in prison and community control sanctions.

McHugh had managed the book depository at Levis Park in Perrysburg since its inception in 1995 until he was fired by BGSU in November. Just a few weeks before, employees in BGSU's purchasing department had noticed a "spike in payables" to Office Depot and called a hotline set up by the university to alert auditors to suspicious activity.

McHugh was suspended shortly after and, when confronted by investigators, he admitted he had been purchasing equipment that was not needed at the book depository since as far back as 2000 or 2001. An inventory compiled by auditors of what he'd fraudulently purchased included dozens of computers, digital cameras, Palm Pilots, laptops, and printers.

According to reports, McHugh admitted he sold many of the items on the Internet auction site, eBay. He used university purchase orders as well as his university credit card to make the purchases, which went unnoticed for several years.

Funded by the Ohio Board of Regents, the book depository is a climate-controlled warehouse that houses rarely used books and other materials for BGSU and the University of Toledo libraries, including the medical college.

Neither McHugh's attorney, Gregory Bakies, or Wood County Assistant Prosecutor Gwen Howe-Gebers could be reached for comment yesterday.

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