[Peace-discuss] Who is arming terrorists?

Fri Nov 2 10:44:53 CDT 2007

 [image: The News-Gazette.com] Guard vet saw crime as 'easy' By Mary
Schenk<http://www.news-gazette.com/news/reporter/mschenk/> Friday
November 2, 2007

URBANA – A 21-year veteran of the Army National Guard told authorities he
stole tens of thousands of dollars worth of military equipment because "it
was easy and he thought the Army was not treating him fairly."

Asked if the representations spelled out in his written plea agreement were
accurate, Christopher Henkel told a federal court judge in Urbana Thursday:
"Unfortunately, they're true."

Henkel, 36, of Decatur, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge
David Bernthal to theft of government property, admitting that during 2006,
he stole more than $70,000 worth of equipment, including body armor and a
global positioning receiver. Some of that he sold to make money; some was
recovered.

His sentence, 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release, a
$44,000 fine, $16,000 in restitution and a $100 special assessment, was the
result of negotiations between Henkel's court-appointed public defender,
John Taylor, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Bruce. U.S. District Court
Judge Michael McCuskey will have to approve that on Jan. 10. Henkel was
allowed to remain free on bond until that date.

After the hearing Thursday, Henkel declined to comment on his guilty plea
and said he was "not sure" what his status with the Army National Guard is.
He was a captain assigned to the National Guard unit in Urbana and had done
two tours of duty in Iraq.

An employee in the human resources department for the city of Decatur said
Henkel's employment as a firefighter ended Oct. 15. The 1993 architecture
graduate of the University of Illinois told Bernthal he worked as an
architect for a few years before becoming a firefighter. He had been with
the city since April 2001.

In laying out the facts for Bernthal, Bruce said investigators from the
Department of Defense and the Federal Bureau of Investigation learned that
Henkel was not only selling military items from his Decatur home to people
working undercover with the government but also on eBay, an online
marketplace.

The indictment against Henkel alleged the thefts took place from October
2006 to Jan. 12, 2007. In November 2006, investigators examined six months'
worth of Henkel's eBay records, which were all that were available. Those
showed he had sold items such as night vision goggles and military clothing
to people throughout the U.S. and several other countries, including
Germany, Greece, Italy and Canada.

Following his arrest, Bruce said, Henkel explained to investigators how he
changed the names and descriptions of the items he was selling online to get
around an eBay prohibition on the sale of military equipment. He had been a
registered eBay member since 2000.

Armed with a search warrant, investigators went to Henkel's home on Jan. 12.

"In his basement were rack upon rack of boxes with hundreds of pieces of
military equipment," Bruce told the judge.

The actual value of the stolen items was difficult for investigators to
determine, given the varying prices of the equipment and because they
weren't sure how long Henkel had been selling items online. For purposes of
his plea, the value was put at more than $70,000.

Asked by Bernthal if all the items belonged to the government, Henkel
responded: "The majority of it."

"It was for myself," he responded to another question about what he was
doing with the money.

A co-defendant, Lee Shobe, 28, of Toledo, was sentenced in September to 30
days in prison, five months of home detention and two years of probation for
stealing about $37,000 worth of military equipment. He offered items for
sale to a person who turned out to be working with the government.

Another National Guardsman, Patrick Fitzsimmons, 39, of Potomac, has also
pleaded guilty to stealing military property and is set to be sentenced by
McCuskey Jan. on 25.
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Find this article at:
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/2007/11/02/guard_vet_saw_crime_as_easy
Comments

[image: The News-Gazette.com, The East Central Illinios Online source for
news and advertising] <http://www.news-gazette.com/>

-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
briandolinar at gmail.com
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