U.S. Navy Vet Accused of Selling Stolen Materiel on eBay

Radios, helmets and night-vision googles sold at auction

A veteran of the United States Navy has been indicted on charges that she stole military hardware and sold it on eBay. According to Wednesday's The Virginian-Pilot in Hampton Roads, Virginia, a federal magistrate issued an arrest warrant for Jessica N. Jacob of Norfolk after a U.S. District Court grand jury indicted her Friday on one count of theft of government property and 11 counts of wire fraud.

Jacob, 33, was in the Navy from 2002 through 2006. The indictment alleges that in 2006, while working at the Norfolk Naval Station, she stole night-vision goggles, radios, aviation helmets and other items and sold them on eBay. To prospective buyers, Jacob claimed to have procured the items at surplus auctions.

The newspaper story says that Jacob is accused of obtaining more than $1600 from her part in selling these items, many of which went for deep discounts:

The story reports that the indictment claims that two survival radios that typically sell for $500 on government surplus Web sites were sold for $346 and $341 on eBay.
Night-vision goggles that typically sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars new were sold on eBay for $14. And aviation helmets were sold for $222 and $237, flashlights for $119 and a package of survival gear for $71.

This is the second time this year that ATR has had to report the sale of pilfered and, sometimes, sensitive military items on eBay. Back in April we reported on the sale of military materiel, including fighter jet parts, that was eventually uncovered by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

What saddens us most is to have to report this just a day after America saluted its veterans.