Two current Fort Carson soldiers and a former one are among four people who have been charged in connection with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of military weapons, gear and robots, then selling them to a middle man who sold them on eBay for a fraction of their worth.
Daniel Francis, Todd Charles Crow, Sgt. Johnny Dominic Herrera and Staff Sgt. Benjamin Cardwell were all charged Thursday with conspiracy to commit theft of government property.
Fort Carson soldiers Herrera and Cardwell are accused of stealing sophisticated surveillance equipment, including two iRobot SUGV XM1216s laser range finders in November 2014 worth $187,000 each from the 4th Infantry Division and selling at least one of the items on eBay, according to federal court records.
Between Jan. 23 and Jan. 26, thieves cut through a fence surrounding Building 9724, Warfighter Drive at Fort Carson, broke locks to a building and to a case. Among the items stolen included a laser range finder, two mini thermal monoculars and 19 Peltor electronic headsets with accessories, according to court records.
Between Jan. 13 and Feb. 11, suspects stole 30 sets of tan “Point Blank Vision” body armor, 51 black “Ontario Knife Company” axes in multi-cam sheaths still in original wrappers, records show.
On Jan. 30, a laser range finder was listed by “amountainman” on eBay near Colorado Springs for $6,000. The site user was Francis, court records show.
Undercover federal agents met on Feb. 2 with Francis at a Safeway grocery store parking lot at 6925 Mesa Ridge Parkway, Fountain. Francis allegedly listed 378 items for sale including body armor, weapon accessories, thermal optic devices and military radios, the records say.
An FBI agent contacted a man in Alabama who purchased a military robot in November 2014. The same man purchased infrared laser devices, Kevlar helmets and other equipment, paying Francis between $20,000 and $30,000 for the items, the records say.
FBI agents learned through cellular phone records that Francis had made 40 calls with Crow between Jan. 23 and Jan. 26. Crow had been terminated from the Army in April 2014 after 14 years of service and had served in the 4th Infantry Division as recently as 2012.
On March 25, FBI agent Andrew Cohen noted numerous weapons for sale by “amountainman” including rear sight assemblies for grenade launchers, the records say.
The FBI then found cellular phone calls between Crow and Herrera, an Army unit supply specialist, who receives, inspects and inventories military weapons, supplies and equipment. Cellular phone calls were also made between Francis and Cardwell, the “principle noncommissioned officer for the care, maintenance of “Battalion Commanders” property worth $90 million.
The investigation determined that Francis made five PayPal payments to Cardwell for $1,310, six payments to Crow Family Trucking for $3,200 and four payments to Herrera for $810 between Feb. 17 and March 1, the records indicate.
Text messages between Francis and Herrera indicated he made between “35K and 48K” in 2014.
On March 31, Francis agreed to fill an order for uniforms, thermal night vision equipment, an M4 rifle and .223-caliber ammunition. Agents arrested Francis on April 15 when he brought part of the order to the undercover agent.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, denverpost.com/coldcases or twitter.com/kirkmitchell
