Former Navy Petty Officer Admits to Role in Stealing and Selling Military Gear After HSI, Partner Investigation

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A California man who served for more than 20 years in the U.S. Navy before his discharge as a petty officer first class has admitted to a federal judge in Rhode Island that, while actively serving in the Navy, he participated in a scheme to steal and sell hundreds of thousands of dollars of government property from a Navy base responsible for supplying ships in the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet.

Richard Allen, 52, of Citrus Heights, California, pleaded guilty Aug. 29 to conspiracy and six counts of money laundering as previously charged in a federal grand jury indictment.

According to information presented to the court, while stationed at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown Cheatham Annex, in Williamsburg, Virginia, Allen and others repeatedly broke into a warehouse on the Navy base that held U.S. Navy gear, including working uniforms, winter gear, flame retardant shirts and pants, soft body armor, goggles, infrared flag patches, Navy SEAL Trident insignia, and small arms protective insert plates. Allen and his co-conspirators stole $856,433 worth of Navy gear and supplies, storing the items in various locations, including in Rhode Island. Allen and others then identified bulk-sale domestic and international customers for the stolen goods and arranged for delivery either in person or via commercial shipping. Payment for the stolen goods was frequently made and received via PayPal, including dozens of payments made from an account in China. The proceeds were transferred to co-conspirators bank accounts, including Allen’s, in increments of less than $10,000, in an effort to avoid bank reporting requirements.

Allen is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 26.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New England’s National Security Group, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s Northeast Field Office, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s Northeast Field Office, the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement’s Boston field office, and the FBI Providence Resident Agent investigated the case.

HSI special agents assigned to the agency's counterproliferation investigations program are on the front lines of the U.S. government's fight to prevent the illicit export and transfer of sensitive military and dual-purpose technology and defense articles to transnational criminal organizations, terrorist groups, adversarial nation states and other nefarious entities operating around the world. As the only U.S. government agency with full statutory authority to enforce all U.S. export control laws relating to military items, controlled dual-purpose goods and sanctions violations, HSI stands at the forefront of the government’s counter-proliferation mission.