Two Members of the U.S. Army Plead Guilty to Bribery Charges Related to Fuel Theft in Afghanistan

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WASHINGTON – Two members of the U.S.Army have each pleaded guilty to a bribery charge for their roles in a schemeto steal jet fuel at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Fenty near Jalalabad,Afghanistan, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the JusticeDepartment’s Criminal Division announced today.
 Sergeant Regionald Dixon, 30, pleaded guilty yesterdayin the District of Hawaii to one count of bribery and Specialist Larry Emmons,25, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery on June 8, 2012.  Dixon and Emmons, both of Schofield Barracks,Hawaii, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi.
 According to court documents, on or about Jan.1, 2012, Dixon and another co-conspirator sergeant in the U.S. Army, agreed toparticipate in a scheme to steal JP8 jet fuel from FOB Fenty.  Specialist Emmons joined the scheme when hereturned to FOB Fenty from midtour leave on or about Jan. 22, 2012.
 According to court documents, Dixon, Emmonsand others surreptitiously filled 3,000-gallon trucks with JP8 jet fuel.  The trucks were owned by an Afghan militarytrucking contractor and were termed “jingle trucks” for their brightadornments.  When filling the jingletrucks, the defendants and their co-conspirators took steps to conceal theiractivities, including filling the trucks in clandestine locations and at timesof day least likely to arouse suspicion.
 Court documents state that Emmons or aco-conspirator created fraudulent transportation movement requests (TMR),military documents that officially authorize the movement of fuel from FOBFenty to another location, usually another military base in that geographicarea.  Emmons and his co-conspirator gavethe fraudulent TMRs to the drivers of the jingle trucks, who presented thefraudulent TMRs at the secure departure checkpoint at FOB Fenty to justify theirdeparture with a truckload of JP8 jet fuel.
 In return for their official acts infacilitating the theft of fuel from FOB Fenty, Dixon, Emmons and aco-conspirator were paid $6,000 per 3,000-gallon truckload of JP8 jet fuel.
 As part of their plea agreements, Dixon andEmmons agreed to forfeit various amounts of cash seized from them or theirresidences or voluntarily surrendered to federal agents.
 At sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 4, 2012,Dixon and Emmons each face up to 15 years in prison.
 These cases are being prosecuted by Trial AttorneyMark W. Pletcher of the Fraud Section in the Justice Department’s CriminalDivision.  The cases were investigated bythe Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction; the Department ofthe Army, Criminal Investigations Division; the Defense Criminal InvestigativeService; the FBI; and the Department of the Air Force, Office of SpecialInvestigations.  Valuable assistance wasalso provided by the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.