posted on April 8, 2004 04:57:08 PM new
Thursday, April 08, 2004
PHILADELPHIA — The government is trying to track down more than 150 people suspected of selling hundreds of pieces of stolen military body armor over the Internet, investigators said Thursday.
The outer tactical vests (search), or OTVs, and protective inserts designed to make the vests more bulletproof, were stolen from the military and sold on eBay for $200 to $1,000 apiece, said Edward T. Bradley, agent in charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service's Northeast field office.
Government investigators launched a sting to make purchases on the Internet auction site, and have identified suspected sellers in 33 states, U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan (search) said.
Bradley said some sellers sold the vests and inserts to the families of soldiers headed for Iraq, exploiting fears raised by reports last October that nearly one-quarter of American troops in Iraq lacked ceramic-plate body armor.
One seller advertised that with "the short numbers of body armor given to troops, now you can get one cheap," Bradley said.
Meehan said suspected drug dealers have recently been found with pieces of military body armor.
"This equipment belongs on our soldiers, not on the backs of those who seek a tactical advantage over our law enforcement personnel," he said.
The officials said they discovered sales of 539 vests and 506 inserts, and so far have recovered 88 vests and 104 inserts.
The investigators have identified 157 suspected sellers and charged seven suspects so far.
In one case, Camp Pendleton, Calif., Marine Staff Sgt. Marvin Funiestas (search), 26, was found with more than 100 pieces of stolen body armor. He was convicted in a court martial and sentenced last week to 10 years in prison on charges of conspiracy, wrongfully selling government property and larceny.
Bradley and Meehan said eBay officials helped investigators track down the sellers and buyers, and the Internet site was not being accused of any illegal activity.
'We have dispatched Dr. David Kay...to search for the bio-warfare agents we believe hidden in Senator Kerry's forehead. If Senator Kerry has used botox as part of a wrinkle enrichment program, he is in violation of UN Resolution 752. Upon receiving Dr. Kay's report, the weapons of mass destruction that Senator Kerry so adamantly insists do not exist...may well be above his very nose.'" --Dick Cheney when asked whether John Kerry has had Botox treaments
posted on April 8, 2004 07:24:15 PM new
Ten years is not enough for these kind of scumbags. This kind of subhuman would sell their own mother down the river for a buck.
posted on April 9, 2004 11:02:57 AM new
The military has this happening because informal supply chains are important. The more blatant abusers are shut down, and at times the cumshaw system works to the advantage of the military.
Just as the Internet is great for rooting out pedophiles, eBay makes the job easier to find the greedy potential traitors. This is awful, but the system is working and they are catching them.
So we leave the door open for a little slack in the system, and some use it to point arrows at themselves.
