Texas service members sold $2.4M in stolen scopes, lasers, other items online, feds say
An Army analyst and National Guard member accused of selling millions in stolen military equipment online will go to prison, Texas officials say.
Former U.S. Property and Fiscal Office Program Analyst Joseph Mora, 36, and former Texas Army National Guardsman Cristal Avila pleaded guilty to theft of government property from Camp Mabry in Austin, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas.
Mora and Avila are accused of stealing “large quantities” of military property, including rifle scopes, infrared laser aiming devices and night-vision goggles from the base, federal prosecutors say. They sold the items worth an estimated $2.4 million on eBay and elsewhere, prosecutors say.
“Stealing military equipment and offering it to the highest bidder endangers our communities and the brave men and women who protect us here at home and abroad,” U.S. Attorney Gregg N. Sofer said in a news release.
After a shipment of 114 aiming lights went missing in April 2019, a criminal investigator for the military started looking into the case. The investigator discovered video surveillance of Mora and Avila in a warehouse after hours and loading a pallet on a forklift, according to a criminal complaint.
A review of the equipment database turned up more missing equipment and a subpoena of Mora’s eBay account listed handheld radios, satellite phones, gas masks, binoculars, night-vision goggles, infrared aiming lights, rifle scopes and other items for sale.
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel called the theft an “ultimate breach of trust” at a sentencing hearing.
Mora was sentenced to three years in prison while Avila was sentenced to two years in prison. The judged order they repay more than $2.4 million in restitution and forfeit a 2016 Cadillac Escalade.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 12:54 PM with the headline "Texas service members sold $2.4M in stolen scopes, lasers, other items online, feds say."