FRIENDSWOOD, Texas, Sept. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Joseph R. Gutheinz, Jr. (Joe, Jr.) was selected as a Texas Super Lawyer for 2021. Super Lawyers is a Thompson Reuters Company. He received this peer rated recognition for his criminal law practice, but he also practices aviation and space law. Joe Jr. is a partner in the Gutheinz Law Firm LLP, based in Friendswood, Texas, with two of his six sons, Major James O’Leary Gutheinz (U.S. Army Reserve) and Lt. Col Michael John Gutheinz (U.S. Army Reserve). His father, Lt. Col. Joseph R. Gutheinz, Sr. (U.S.M.C. Deceased) was also an attorney who began practicing law only after serving as a Marine Corps Infantry enlisted man and officer for 30 years, in WW-ll, China, the Korean War and Vietnam.
Joe Jr’s Background
Joe Jr. is a former Army Intelligence Officer and Aviator who transitioned from military service to law enforcement, first as a Special Agent with the FAA, then as a Special Agent with U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) and finally as a Senior Special Agent with NASA OIG. He was the top graduate (Honor Graduate) from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center’s Criminal Investigators Course, Glynco Georgia and a Distinguished Graduate from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center’s Office of Inspector General Basic Course, Glynco Georgia. He was appointed to by the Governor of Texas and served on the Texas Criminal Justice Advisory Committee on Medical and Mental Impairments, the Texas Council on Sex Offender Treatment and the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. Joe, Jr. holds six college degrees, eight teaching credentials and ten law licenses and has taught 200 college classes for three colleges and one law school.
Key NASA Cases
From 1992 to 2000 Joe Jr. led 4 Federal task force investigations for NASA OIG against Omniplan Corporation, Lockheed, the Arkansas Aerospace Education Center, Rockwell Space Operation Company and its successors in interest, Boeing and United Space Alliance. His Omniplan case resulted in the largest count indictment and conviction in NASA history and the closure of 7 companies. In 1997, Joe, Jr. investigated the Russian Space Program and the Russian Mir Space Station fire and collision and stolen Prelaunch Assessment and Review Tapes detailing the dangers of the Mir and the false statements being told about its safety. In 1998, Joe Jr. arrested Jerry Alan Whitteredge who was called the great astronaut impersonator, a man who gained access to NASA’s Mission Control, access to two military bases and sensitive Space Shuttle Propulsion information, claiming to be as astronaut, CIA Regent for Life, Top Gun Trophy recipient and Medal of Honor recipient. Also, in that year he investigated a company selling seats on a non-existent rocket ship.
Operation Lunar Eclipse and the Moon Rock Project
In 1998 Joe, Jr created an undercover sting operation called, Operation Lunar Eclipse, the subject of an upcoming movie. The purpose of the sting operation was to catch con men selling bogus moon rocks, but what happened instead, was that a person selling the Honduras Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock for 5 million dollars was stung by his sting operation. For the first time in history a moon rock was recovered in a sting, with the help of former Presidential candidate and billionaire H. Ross Perot, who put up the 5 million dollar asking price. When Joe Jr retired from law enforcement and began teaching, he created the Moon Rock Project for his students where, over a 10-year period, the students helped recover 78 more Apollo era moon rocks, to include Apollo 17 Moon Rocks brought home by the governors of Colorado, West Virginia and Missouri. This success has caused media outlets like the Irish Times, New York Time, Saturday Evening Post, History Channel and an Emmy Award winning documentary, "Moon for Sale", to call Joe, Jr. the "Moon Rock Hunter".
Joe Jr.’s Awards
Joe Jr. is the recipient of the President Council on Integrity and Efficiency Career Achievement Award, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the NASA Superior Accomplishment Award, a Special Commendation from the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Texas, the U.S. Army Meritorious Service Medal and the Distinguished Alumni Award from California State University, Sacramento.
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