PROVIDENCE — A former US Navy petty officer on Thursday admitted in Rhode Island federal court he was involved in stealing and selling more than $856,000 worth of military gear from a Navy base that supplies the branch’s Atlantic Fleet, prosecutors said.
Richard Allen, 52, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and six counts of money laundering, as charged in a February 2018 indictment, according to a statement from the Rhode Island US Attorney’s Office.
Allen, of Citrus Heights, Calif., served for more than 20 years in the Navy, before his discharge as a Petty Officer First Class, officials said.
While he was stationed at the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown-Cheatham Annex in Williamsburg, Va., Allen in 2013, 2014, and 2015 repeatedly broke into a warehouse at the base that held “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,” prosecutors said.
In total, Allen and others lifted $856,433 worth of that gear and supplies, and stored the stolen goods in various locations around the country, including in storage units in Rhode Island, according to prosecutors and the indictment filed against Allen, obtained by the Globe Thursday.
“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,” the US Attorney’s Office said. “Payment for the stolen goods was frequently made and received via PayPal, including dozens of payments made from an account in China.”
Allen and his co-conspirators kept the proceeds in their bank accounts “in increments of less than $10,000, in an effort to avoid bank reporting requirements,” prosecutors said.
Under the terms of a plea agreement he signed on Aug. 23, Allen agreed to provide $100,000 to the court — a sum that “represents the defendant’s proportionate share” of the Navy’s equipment losses as a result of Allen’s theft, according to court files.
Allen also agreed to forfeit cash from the alleged scheme kept in four Providence-based bank accounts, the court file states.
In exchange, prosecutors agreed to recommend a “reasonable” 18-month prison sentence, when Allen goes before Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. for sentencing on Nov. 26, according to the agreement.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.