KGUN9 On Your Side, Tucson News, Weather & SportsGuardsman convicted of stealing border fencing materials
Web producer: Sheryl Kornman
TUCSON (KGUN9) - A former Wyoming Air National Guardsman, Robert J. Kelley, 49, of Carpenter, Wyo., was found guilty of theft of public property, by a federal jury in Tucson.
He was accused of stealing border fencing material, selling it and keeping the proceeds.
At the time, he was deployed to the Arizona border for Operation Jump Start, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security border fence project, according to a news release from U.S. District Court in Tucson.
The case was tried before United States District Court Judge Cindy K. Jorgenson over a period of seven days.
Sentencing is set before Judge Cindy K. Jorgenson on May 24.
Evidence at trial showed that Kelley was assigned to Operation Jump Start, Task Force Diamondback, near Sonoita.
He was the Noncommissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of Air and Army National Guardsmen constructing a border fence on the international border between the U.S. and Mexico.
Steel railroad ties were cut and welded to create a vehicle barrier.
Kelley told his unit he had authority to sell the scrap from the project, and ordered the guardsmen to load it in dump trucks from the construction site, sell it at a metal recycler in Tucson, and give the money to him so he could spend it on unit welfare.
Guardsmen testified that Kelley also ordered them to intentionally create scrap in order to increase the size of the scrap loads being sold in Tucson.
Witnesses from the U.S. Border Patrol and the military testified that Kelley had no authority to sell the scrap from the fence project.
Between July 2007 and March 2008, 90 tons of steel were sold for $13,055 and deposited into a bank account in Kelley's name.
Kelley spent thousands of dollars from the sale of government steel on himself for a personal laptop computer, printer, router, Geek Squad home install services, chop saw, ratchet set, cowboy boots, .45 caliber handgun, AR-15 rifle, and a variety of tools.
A conviction for theft of public property carries a maximum penalty of 10 years, a $250,000 fine or both.
In determining the sentence, Judge Jorgenson will consult .S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence, according to the media release.
The investigation leading to the guilty verdict was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Air Force Office of Special Investigations. The prosecution was handled by Mary Sue Feldmeier and Kyle Healey, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona.
