New York State Police Arrest 4 in Alleged Scheme to Steal, Resell Military Equipment

Last updated on August 7th, 2024 at 04:27 pm

New York State Police arrested four people, including two National Guard members and a civilian military employee, on Monday, July 8, in connection with an alleged scheme to steal and resell military equipment.

New York authorities announced they arrested and charged James Waleski, 50, and Jennifer Waleski, 40, of Jamesville, NY; Gordon Reynolds, 44, of Chittenango, NY; and Joriann Garcia-Hernandez, 38, of Rome, NY.

The New York State Police said the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) first alerted them in June to a suspicious Facebook Marketplace account that James Waleski—a civilian employee of the Department of Defense—allegedly opened. The Marketplace account appeared positioned to sell military-grade equipment not available to the general public.

State police searched Waleski’s residence, computer, and phones, during which they recovered tens of thousands of dollars worth of largely unspecified military equipment that was reportedly missing from stores maintained by the 174th, the 272nd Army Military Police Detachment and the Army National Guard 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Police said one of the stolen items was a ballistic vest being reshipped to Russia.

Authorities said they also helped track some of the missing equipment to buyers within New York, as well as Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Florida.

In the course of their search, the State Police said they recovered from Waleski’s possession what they described as an “illegal assault rifle.” The police said this rifle was not among the items missing from military stores.

Through their investigation, authorities also determined Reynolds and Garcia-Hernandez—an officer in the 272nd Military Police and a supply specialist in the 152nd Brigade Engineer Battalion respectively—were also making off with military equipment.

New York State authorities charged James Waleski with 2nd-degree grand larceny, 10 counts of 3rd-degree criminal possession of a weapon for having “high-capacity” magazines banned in New York. He faces an 11th count of 3rd-degree criminal possession of a weapon for the aforementioned “assault weapon.”

The definition of an “assault weapon” in New York state law includes rifles capable of accepting a detachable magazine that also has one of any of the following additional features: a collapsable stock, protruding pistol grip, thumbhole stock, foregrip, bayonet mount, muzzle brake or compensator or flash suppressor or mounts to accommodate those features, and a grenade launcher. New York defines “high-capacity” magazines as those capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.

Authorities also charged James Waleski with a Class-A misdemeanor charge for selling body armor. New York state law prohibits possession of body armor except for military or law enforcement personnel or other professionals whose work may expose them to physical injury.

Authorities charged Jennifer Waleski with a single count of 3rd-degree criminal possession of a weapon for having an “assault weapon.”

Gordon also faces the 3rd-degree criminal possession of a weapon charge for having another unspecified “assault weapon.” The military police officer faces the same weapon possession charge for having a “high-capacity” magazine. He faces an additional charge for criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree.

Garcia-Hernandez is charged with petit larceny, a Class-A misdemeanor in New York.

Army CID declined to provide any additional comments on the case and referred additional questions about the arrests back to the New York State Police.