GIs Steal Night Vision Goggles to SellMarch 07, 2009
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
El Paso, Tx. - A U.S. Soldier from Georgia and an El Paso security executive are charged in a federal indictment with stealing expensive military night-vision goggles from combat teams in Iraq, apparently to sell them in a black market along the border.
The suspects are Jason Michael Hawreluk, who was arrested at Fort Stewart, Ga., and Mark Richard Benedict of El Paso, who works as a security official with a twin plant in Juarez. They are to have a status hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in El Paso on theft charges.
Hawreluk was to have been arraigned Friday, but he received a postponement because his lawyer from Georgia did not show up in court.
U.S. prosecutors allege the men stole 15 sets of Raptor Night Vision Weapon Sight goggles from U.S. servicemen in Iraq. Six sets of the night-vision goggles are worth $6,342 each. The other nine sets are valued at $6,879 each.
The suspects also are accused of stealing an MX1 thermal imager worth $8,675, according to court records.
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