A former systems administrator at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has pleaded guilty to the theft of 19,709 items from his workplace.

Victor Papagno Jr worked at the NRL from 1997 until August 2007 and stole more than 100 PCs, 167 keyboards, 275 mice, 80 monitors, 187 toner cartridges and nearly 5,000 pieces of software.

His actions only came to light after he was arrested on a charge of assaulting his wife and she explained that they had been fighting because she wanted his "work stuff" out of the house. Investigators went to his house and found the stolen goods.

It appears that none of the equipment was sold on, but was used by Papagno and his friends. Navy officials have reportedly valued the haul at $1.6m.

No confidential information relating to military secrets appears to have been stolen, but the personal details of 14 employees and contractors who worked at the laboratory from 1998 to 2002 were found on CDs or zip drives.

Papagno resigned from the NRL shortly after the equipment was discovered and his wife has dropped her charge of assault.