Ex-master chief petty officer gets four years in Iraq fuel thefts

[unhappycamper]

Ex-master chief petty officer gets four years in Iraq fuel thefts
By Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, December 19, 2009

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — A former Navy master chief petty officer was sentenced Dec. 11 to four years in prison for stealing nearly $40 million in fuel from the U.S. Army in Iraq, according to the Department of Justice.

Robert Jeffery, 56, was one of multiple conspirators who sold the fuel on the black market in Iraq from 2006 to 2008, according to the Eastern Virginia district of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Web site. Jeffery served at Yokosuka Naval Base with Destroyer Squadron 15 from 1990 to 1996 and then with the Afloat Training Group until 1998, according to the Navy Personnel Command. He entered the Navy Reserve in 1999 and was last known to be living in the Philippines.

Jeffery was also sentenced to two years of supervised release following his prison term. He was convicted in August on charges of conspiracy and theft of government property.

In May 2008, agents began surveillance of Jeffery, watching him escort fuel trucks off Camp Victory, where he met with several unidentified men, according to court documents obtained by Stars and Stripes.

“Jeffery would allow these individuals to take custody of the trucks and drive them, unescorted, onto Route Irish toward downtown Baghdad to dispose of the fuel,” stated Army Criminal Investigative Command agent Janet Keller in an affidavit.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66748