Soldier accused of stealing military gear and selling them to local pawn shop.
A former soldier arrested in January 2013 on suspicion of swiping gear in Army motor pools and then reselling it to military surplus stores led officers to Robinson’s store. The former soldier, Colton Adair Sanders, later pleaded guilty to possessing stolen property and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) is an American military installation home to I Corps (United States) and 62d Airlift Wing located 9.1 miles (14.6 km) south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Joint Base Garrison, Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Apparently he sold the military gear to a local pawn shop owner at Historical Military Sales near Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Such incidents are not uncommon, I’m afraid to report in the military and happens at every branch and every base in the military.
We contacted the Pentagon in regard to this and they had “no comment.”
We also are tracking incidents of missing Army equipment at 23 different Army bases around the country and sadly no one would go one record to report this a a problem or even wanted to discuss it.
How much the military loses in theft by soldiers is unknown, but is estimated in the tens millions of dollars every year. Its also a problem within the VA health care system as well. Again no one wanted to talk about the problem.
We have seen dozens of reports of thefts already that total several million dollars.
See related report: http://www.justice.gov/usao/cas/press/2013/cas13-0520-TuiseeSent.pdf