Marine gets 10 years for sale of stolen flak jackets

[thedrifter]

Marine gets 10 years for sale of stolen flak jackets





By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

April 6, 2004

A Camp Pendleton Marine has been convicted of selling stolen flak jackets that were intended for U.S. troops, and some of the ceramic reinforced vests ended up in China, raising concerns that military technology will be pirated.

Marine authorities say Staff Sgt. Marvin Funiestas, 26, sold between 100 and 110 vests, many of them offered online, for a few hundred dollars each.

"This was brand new equipment out of the packaging," Capt. Mark Spalding, who prosecuted Funiestas and won a 10-year prison sentence, said yesterday. "This is especially hard to take because we are having a hard time getting enough vests to field with our Marines."

The vests are known as Point Blank Interceptor Ballistic body armor, with Small Arms Protective Inserts ? or SAPI plates made of high-tech ceramic. Their sale is restricted to law enforcement, military and credentialed public safety personnel.

The body armor is credited with saving countless lives in Afghanistan and Iraq by stopping bullets and shrapnel. Its availability to troops has become a contentious issue in the presidential campaign.

In late March, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the presumptive Democratic nominee, argued that the shortage of body armor was proof that President Bush cares little about U.S. troops. Bush countered that Kerry voted against providing all troops with the protective gear.

The FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Defense Department are trying to get the pilfered vests back.

Federal agents in San Diego recently attempted to recover two vests bought by an unwitting eBay customer, who then shipped one to a son-in-law in the Army who was stationed in Kuwait. The soldier did not have a vest because the military couldn't provide one.

Some ads for armor vests focused on the shortage as a selling point.

"This is currently used in Iraq and with troop rotations coming up and the short numbers of body armor given to troops, now you can get one cheap," one ad said. "E-mail me and see my other items!"

It was not clear yesterday if any of these ads belonged to Funiestas or how widespread the practice of selling flak jackets is on the Internet.

Another ad boasted: "This is the newest style of body armor worn by the U.S. military. The real stuff, not a copy or knockoff! These are actual items I was issued."

Still another called the product "the best body armor in the world."

EBay spokesman Hani Durzy said yesterday his company does not knowingly sell stolen property, but that with 21 million items on eBay at any time, it's hard to keep track of everything.

"If something is brought to our attention, we will pull it off the site," Durzy said.

Capt. Dan McSweeney, a Marine Corps spokesman, knew of no widespread theft of body armor within the service and said that all Marines serving in Iraq have protective vests.

Funiestas, assigned to the Weapons and Field Training Battalion, is believed to have sold stolen goods between June and November, when he was arrested. He was sentenced Wednesday on charges of conspiracy, wrongfully selling government property and larceny.

Another Marine implicated in the case has yet to be charged, said Spalding, who alleges that the suspect falsified the number of vests on hand and sent vests to Funiestas, who sold about $88,000 worth of government equipment for $35,000 to $40,000.

Although most of the vests were sold domestically, "at least two or three went to China," prosecutor Spalding said.

During the case an expert discussed how the Chinese could use reverse engineering, studying the vest to determine how it was built. Chinese engineers are noted for their proficiency at reverse engineering.

Other vests went to Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan and South Korea, Spalding said.

However, the Chinese, said Loren Thompson, a defense expert for the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, are not the cause for the greatest hand-wringing.

"I think the real issue is selling military supplies that are short in places like Iraq," he said. "I don't think the penalty applied can capture the nature of what he sold. It's really immoral. One doesn't expect a Marine to do something this immoral. There are numerous stories about soldiers who are not adequately protected by body armor."

Funiestas sold the body armor and load-bearing gear called MOLLE equipment, which includes a backpack hydration system.

"He was apparently in financial straits," Spalding said. "He had a pretty clean record. He was an average, good Marine."



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Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212; rick.rogers@uniontrib.com


Ellie