A man has been charged with taking 66 colonoscopes from hospitals around the region and then selling them to various medical equipment distributors.

Michael Marburger was charged in federal court in Pittsburgh yesterday by a criminal information with 66 counts of transporting stolen goods across state lines.

According to court documents, Mr. Marburger took the colonoscopes from hospitals in Pittsburgh; Erie; Du Bois, Clearfield County; Altoona, Blair County; Cleveland; Butler; Martins Ferry, Ohio; State College, Centre County; Akron, Ohio; and Clarksburg, W.Va. between March 2004 and July 2006.

The most taken from any one place, according to paperwork, were 10 colonoscopes stolen from United Hospital Center in Clarksburg. They were valued at approximately $210,000 and were taken from July 8 to 28, 2006.