Government Contractor Found Guilty of Theft of Government Property

A former government contractor was found guilty today for his role in a scheme to unlawfully convert U.S. government property from the U.S military base at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, shipping items to his home in Arizona for resale. 

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Strange of the District of Arizona, Inspector General Steve A. Linick of the U.S. Department of State, and Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John F. Sopko made the announcement.

After a three day trial, Michael Dale Gilbert, 38, of Young, Arizona, was convicted of three counts of theft and unauthorized sale of government property and one count of interstate transportation of stolen property.  Gilbert’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 9 before U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow of the District of Arizona, who presided over the trial.

According to the evidence admitted at trial, Gilbert worked at PAE Government Services, a government contractor that provides logistics and other support to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the U.S. Department of Defense around the globe, including Afghanistan.  From 2012 to 2015, Gilbert was deployed to Kandahar Airfield (KAF), where he assisted DOS with the Foreign Excess Personal Property (FEPP) program.  Once equipment, including computer equipment, heavy construction items and work tools, was requested through the FEPP program at KAF, Gilbert was assigned to arrange for its transfer for use or for its destruction, to prevent the items from falling into the hands of insurgents.  While in that role, in or around April and December of 2014, instead of facilitating the transportation or destruction of U.S government property, Gilbert shipped FEPP to the United States and transported the items to his residence in Arizona.  Gilbert stole FEP items worth at least $48,900, including items recovered from his residence in Arizona valued at approximately $16,700, approximately $3,700 in sales through eBay, and goods valued at approximately $28,500 that Gilbert sold through other means, the evidence showed.   

This case was investigated by the DOS Office of the Inspector General and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.  This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Jessee Alexander-Hoeppner of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant United States Attorney Gary Restaino of the District of Arizona.