A group of eight men were given felony charges for involvement in an alleged theft ring that rounded up stolen military equipment and sold it on the online marketplace, EBay.
According to an indictment from U.S. District Court, the men were charged with conspiracy and violations of an international arms trade act for theft of U.S. Army property between 2013 and 2016.
The documents singled out John Roberts and Cory Wilson, both civilians, as the operators of an online store on EBay that sold thousands of stolen pieces of equipment worth an estimated amount of upwards of a million dollars. Six others listed on the indictment are all soldiers at Fort Campbell who are accused of supplying the stolen property.
Items stolen included machine gun parts, a grenade launcher site, body armor, helmets, night vision goggles and medical equipment.
Roberts and Wilson were accused of moving the items off the post to a warehouse in Clarksville.
Items sold often went overseas, to countries such as China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Lithuania, Mexico and others.
According to the indictment, this violates the Arms Export Control Act which requires a person to apply for an export license before arms, ammunition or articles of war from the United States to other countries.
Roberts and Wilson both face charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and violation of the Arms Export Control Act. Those charges carry a max prison sentence of 45 years together and $1.5 million fine.
The other six defendants were charged with conspiracy and face up to five years in prison.
