International Business Times reports
U.S. Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C., stole and sold approximately $2 million in guns and combat equipment to streets gangs and to China and Russia, military officials confirmed. The stolen guns and combat gear included assault rifles, night-vision goggles and flashlights.
More than 60 people have been implicated in the incident, the Daily News in Jacksonville, N.C., reported. 47 service members and 21 civilians have been charged so far. Several of them have already pleaded guilty, Ed Buice, public affairs officer for Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) in Quantico, Va., told the paper.
It seems like there's a lot more to "theft," as one of the main sources of guns going to criminals than your proverbial revolver being stolen out of the night stand or glove box. This is theft on an entirely different level.
Although the case is ongoing, what do you think about the sentences already handed down?
That paper said that two Marines have been convicted in the case. They are Sgt. Daniel Adam Reich and Capt. Donald E. Pump Jr. Reich was convicted Monday of selling and attempting to sell military property and conspiracy. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison and given a dishonorable discharge.Do those sentences seem a bit light to you? I would have expected a harsher treatment of Marines involved in something like this.
Pump was convicted of similar offenses, sentenced to 18 months in prison and dismissed from the Corps.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
