WACO (October 17, 2012)--A man was sentenced to federal prison Wednesday after he earlier pleaded guilty theft of U.S. Department of Defense property.
U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith sentenced Edward Russo to one year and one day in federal prison followed by three years on supervised release, ordered him to pay a $1,000 fine and a $100 special assessment to the court.
Court documents indicate Russo participated with Angeligue McRae, Joel Robert Stone and Michael Bartch, Sr., to steal and conceal military property valued at more than $1,000, which they knew to be stolen.
McRae, Stone and Bartch all have pleaded guilty to the same charge are all are set for sentencing within the next few weeks.
The charges say the group exported at least three advanced targeting lasers from the United States into Canada.
The equipment is included on the Department of Defense munitions list.
The charges further state the equipment was offered for sale using Internet-based PayPal accounts.
The remaining defendants face three counts each that could result in federal prison sentences of as much as 20 years and fines of as much as $1 million.
