A South Georgia man who admitted to allowing more than $1 million in military equipment to be stolen from a base and then sold faces up to 15 years in federal prison, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Shelby C. Janes, 67, of Albany pleaded guilty to receiving about $98,500 in bribes for his role in the scheme, according to prosecutors.
Janes is a former civilian inventory control manager at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany. The stolen equipment included cranes, bulldozers and front-end loaders. They ended up in the possession of a commercial trucking business that routinely did business with the base and arranged for the equipment to be sold to private buyers, prosecutors said.
The thefts targeted obsolete equipment returning from the Marine’s Fleet unit. The equipment was to be either sold or destroyed, or repaired and returned to the fleet. Prosecutors said Janes and another employee allowed equipment to be driven off the base and falsified documents authorizing the trucking business to take possession of the heavy machinery.
Janes, who appeared before U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands in the Middle District of Georgia, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery of a public official. In addition to prison, he could face fines and he’s agreed to pay full restitution to the Defense Department, prosecutors said. A sentencing date has not been set.
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