Quantico Staff Sergeant Sold Night Vision Equipment On eBay

A staff sergeant at Marine Corps Base Quantico has pleaded guilty to stealing night vision equipment from the Marine One helicopter squadron and selling it on the online auction site eBay.

According to a statement of fact in the plea agreement, 34-year-old Brenden Baker "stole at least fifty-one image intensifier tubes and other night vision parts worth approximately $94,392 from a department and agency of the United States, specifically from Marine Helicopter Squadron-One (HMX-l), a part of the Department of the Navy.”

Baker sold the gear on eBay, but it was not reported how much he actually received from his stolen property.

The Daily Beast reports that Baker had been a Naval air technician in 2003 before being promoted to calibration technician. He eventually rose to the position of repair lab superviser.

Baker may have started selling stolen goods as early as 2014, when he established a home-based business under the name "Covert Customs", according to public records. The Virginia State Corporation Commission could find no record of the company, however.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said that Baker pleaded guilty before prosecutors could bring criminal charges against him. He will be sentenced in August on charges of theft of government property. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison, and his plea agreement requires him to pay $94,000 in restitution.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.justice.gov