Active Duty Member Of U.S. Military Pleads Guilty To Stealing And Selling Military-Issued Night Vision Technology

Earlier today, Zachary Sizemore, an active-duty service member of the United States Air Force, pleaded guilty to the sale without authority of night vision devices and components stolen from the Air Force. Today’s guilty plea took place before Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn.

On November 29, 2016, the defendant was arrested on the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where he is stationed. He appeared that afternoon at the U.S. Courthouse in Dayton, Ohio, and at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn on December 7, 2016.

The guilty plea was announced by Bridget M. Rohde, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Leigh-Alistair Barzey, Special Agent-in-Charge for the Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), and Angel M. Melendez, Special Agent-in-Charge for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York.

According to court filings, between July 2013 and November 2016, Sizemore sold night vision devices that he stole from the United States military, including night vision goggles and mini-thermal monoculars. In addition, he created online postings for, and sold or attempted to sell, dozens of items described as night vision equipment or thermal equipment, among other military equipment. Of those postings, Sizemore sold at least 80 such items for approximately $86,000. To date, the DCIS has identified more than $130,000 in losses attributable to Sizemore’s theft.

Night vision devices acquired by the United States military, such as the items the defendant stole and sold, contain components made to military specifications. The military requires the items to be rendered useless for their intended purpose prior to leaving government control. United States military policies prohibit the private sale of fully functional military-issued night vision equipment.

When he is sentenced on June 29, 2017, Sizemore faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Office’s General Crimes Section. Assistant United States Attorney Nomi D. Berenson is in charge of the prosecution and Assistant United States Attorney Tanisha R. Payne is in charge of the forfeiture.

The Defendant:

ZACHARY SIZEMORE
Age: 24
Dayton, Ohio
 

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 17-CR-87 (SJ)