American Contractor Pleads Guilty to Stealing Government Equipment on U.S. Military Base in Afghanistan

An American military contractor pleaded guilty today to his role in a theft ring on a military installation in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia, and Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John F. Sopko made the announcement.

Larry J. Green, 43, of Chesapeake, Virginia, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas E. Miller to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and commit theft of property of value to the United States worth over $300,000; one count of theft of property of value to the United States; and one count of aiding and abetting the submission of false statements.  Sentencing is set for Nov. 19, 2020.

Green admitted that, between April 2015 and July 2015, he and others conspired to steal and did steal property of value to the United States including generators and a truck.  Green negotiated the sale of the stolen property with a third-country national middleman, who facilitated the sale of the items to unknown persons off of the military installation in Kandahar, Afghanistan.  In order to effectuate the theft of a truck, Green admitted that he drove the truck off the military installation. 

Green also admitted that, in order to effectuate the theft of generators, he aided and abetted one of his co-conspirators, a security badging and escort pass supervisor, in creating false official documents to facilitate both the entry of unknown and unvetted Afghan nationals and their vehicles on to the military installation, and the removal of the stolen property from the installation.  The falsified documents were used to deceive security officers and gate guards and compromised the security of U.S. military and civilian personnel on the military installation.

SIGAR investigated the case with help from Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) and the 939th Military Police Detachment of the Indiana Army National Guard. Trial Attorneys Sasha N. Rutizer of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, Rosaleen O’Gara of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Kosky of the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.