Army Veteran in Pleads Guilty in 2021 Fort Hood Theft Case
A theft case from 2021 at Fort Hood is coming to end after one of the accused plead guility Wednesday.
According to the Killeen Daily Herald, the case first began in June of 2021. The Army discovered that 17 locks on the premises had been cut. All locks were located on Conex shipping containers. In total, after an audit was performed, 137 items in total were discovered to have disappeared.
According to the audit, among the items missing were scopes, radios, night-vision items and receiver/transmitters. The investigation then proceeded to see if the items could be found anywhere or reclaimed. Investigators looked everywhere, including online.
Further Investigation Leads To Discovery
As investigators kept looking for the stolen items, one investigator discovered a thermal scope listed for $4,500 on the bidding site eBay. The serial number of the scope also matched number of an item stolen at Fort Hood. One of the defendants, Nathan Nichols, who already has admitted guilt to his crimes, was found to be the individual who placed the item up for sale.
Security footage also revealed another person of interest, Jessica Elaintrell Smith, entering Fort Hood on June 16th, with Brown being identified as also entering the facility on the 16th and 17th of June.
According to court documents, Jessica was found guilty on August 2nd, with her sentence being 18 months in prison, with 2 years of probation. She was also ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution to the army.
Jessica also revealed to law enforcement officers that she paid Brown a sum of $5,000 for his assistance in theft of the items. Brown, on Wednesday September 14th, 2022, plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
This isn't the first case of theft of the Army, as a Killeen couple was sentenced in 2021 for a string of wire fraud thefts.
This is a developing story, we will have more information as it becomes available.