Last week, a group of soldiers were accused of stealing Army gear and selling it overseas. One of the soldiers was AWOL (absent without leave) and had previously been charged with attempted homicide earlier in the year, Tennessean reports.
Kyle Thomas Heade, 29, was one of six Fort Campbell soldiers and two civilians who stole Army gear and sold it overseas. After the accusation against Heade and the other soldiers, a court records check showed that this wasn’t the first criminal case against Heade. Back in January, Heade was charged with attempted homicide after he was found guilty of a shooting that occurred on Tiny Road at Bojangles in Clarksville.
While he was in the parking lot at Bojangles, he noticed two men robbing a woman, Theresa Cobb, 30. Instead of contacting authorities, Heade fired shots into the vehicle leaving one man injured.
Heade’s attorney, Eric Yow, argued that his client was not committing a crime, but protecting another person.
“It appears to me, if he was the shooter, he was trying to protect someone.”
Heade’s bond was set at $1 million back in January, but was able to be released on bond when it was lowered to $50,000. The man who was shot by Heade, Dustin McCracken, was charged with robbery, court records revealed. McCracken was guilty of attempting to steal money from Cobb inside the car.
Prior to Heade’s arrest, he had been AWOL. Heade had been a part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team in Fort Campbell. After Heade was arrested and charged with attempted murder, he was released from the military.
Most recently, Heade was a part of six soldiers who are accused of stealing army equipment and selling it overseas. Back in August 2015, Heade and John Roberts, 26, exchanged text messages involving talk about a stolen M144 telescopic rifle sight. The following month, Heade and Roberts were exchanging more text messages regarding equipment that once belonged to a brigade in Fort Campbell Army Base.
Officials from Fort Campbell revealed that they worked with the authorities to bring Heade in and arrested him.
“We were aware of the indictments and supported authorities at all levels in the apprehension of the soldiers. If it is proven the soldiers are found guilty on charges, we will fully support the sentences imposed by the court.”
According to Army Times, Jonathan Wolford, Michael Barlow, Kyle Heade, Dustin Nelson, Alexander Hollibaugh, and Aaron Warner, all soldiers from Fort Campbell, have been charged in connection with this crime. In addition, two civilians have also been charged, Cory Wilson and John Roberts.
It has been mentioned that Heade and the others placed ads on Ebay to sell things such as machine gun parts, a grenade launcher, printer ink, and other Army equipment. The indictment also says that the eight men also sold advanced communication headsets, body armor, combat and flight helmets, a sight for a grenade launcher, a sniper telescope, and other equipment that “is never offered for sale by the U.S. Department of Defense as surplus.”
The equipment sold was classified as “DEMIL D” by the Defense Department, which means that it cannot be sold elsewhere and the military must destroy it.
The buyers were from the U.S., Russia, Romania, Mexico, China, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Ukraine, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and Moldova, according to Army Times . The sales began in 2013 and have since been going on until the arrests this year.
The charges are as follows.
- Army Specialists Kyle Heade, Jonathan Wolford, Alexander Hollibaugh, Aaron Warner, and Dustin Nelson were all charged with conspiracy.
- U.S. Army sergeant Michael Barlow was charged with conspiracy, receipt and unauthorized sale of government property, and three counts of theft.
- John Roberts was charged with conspiracy, 10 counts of wire fraud, and two counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act.
- Jason C. Wilson was charged with conspiracy, seven counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and violating the Arms Export Control Act.
While Heade has been discharged from the military immediately after being charged with attempted homicide, it has not been revealed whether the other soldiers involved with this conspiracy crime have been discharged. According to Washington Times , the amount of stolen military property was worth $1 million.
[Featured Image by niyazz/AP Images]
