A US Army veteran was sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing $2.1 million worth of military gear from Fort Hood and listing some of the items on eBay.
Jessica Elaintrell Smith, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the US government in April, Fox News reported.
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Smith and two other co-conspirators stole high-tech military equipment in June 2021.
According to an audit, the three defendants stole a total of 137 items worth $2.1 million.
Assistant US Attorney Joel Stacey Dunn last week described it as a ‘smash-and-grab’ robbery.
Fox News reported:
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A U.S. army veteran who pleaded guilty to stealing $2.1 million worth of military gear from the embattled Texas base Fort Hood was sentenced last week to just a year and a half behind bars.
Jessica Elaintrell Smith, 30, had already pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government in April. As part of the plea deal, another count on the indictment was dropped.
Smith, along with co-conspirators Nathan Nichols and Brandon Dominic Brown, are accused of taking 68 PAS-13 scopes, 47 RT 1523 radios, nine AN-PSC 5 radios, four PVS-14 scopes, three-night vision devices, three AN/PRC 117 radios, two receiver/transmitters and one AN-VRC-90 radio sometime overnight between June 16-17, 2021.
Soldiers reported finding locks cut on 17 Conex shipping containers on the base, and an audit showed that a total of 137 items worth about $2.1 million were missing.
“It was a smash-and-grab,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Stacey Dunn said on Tuesday, according to The Killeen Daily Herald. “They took whatever they could get.”
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Twelve says after the heist, an agent with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division discovered several of the stolen items matching the same serial number listed for sale on eBay.
Fort Hood army vet gets 18 months in prison for stealing $2.1M in military gear from embattled Texas base https://t.co/Kk9qZ14xV2
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 7, 2022
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