An airman who oversaw the armory at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base was sentenced to 19 months in prison Friday for stealing more than $25,000 worth of military weaponry, bullets and accessories and selling some of his haul on eBay.
Senior Airman Brenden Ver Milyea also will be booted from the service on a bad-conduct discharge, and will lose his stripes and forfeit his pay and allowances.
"I want to apologize for what I've done. It was wrong and there's no excuse for it," Ver Milyea, 25, told Lt. Col. Scott Harding, the military judge at his court-martial.
He said he started stealing when he got into financial trouble with credit-card debts.
As his wife of one year wept in the courtroom, Ver Milyea pleaded guilty and described how he stuffed the stolen items into the backpack he used to bring his lunch to work.
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Between May and October of last year, he pilfered hundreds of rounds of ammunition, night-vision scopes, gun parts, laser aiming devices and other items, stashing them in drawers and containers in a spare bedroom at his house in Tucson.
By the time the Air Force caught on, Ver Milyea had already sold some of the items online to 43 people in 21 states and three foreign countries, said military prosecutor Capt. Kyle Hern.
"We don't know who these people are or what they intended to do," with the military hardware, Hern said. "The potential for harm is mind-boggling. They could have gone into anyone's hands."
Ver Milyea, who attended Santa Rita High School in Tucson, is the father of a 3-month-old daughter born as he awaited trial.
At D-M, he was a member of the 355th Security Forces Squadron, and was described as a model airman by the former supervisor who put him in charge of the on-base arsenal.
"He was one of my top troops," said Special Agent Joseph Hawkins, who used to be Ver Milyea's boss. He's now an Air Force detective, one of several summoned to search the airman's house last fall.
"I was heartbroken" as fellow detectives unearthed the trove of stolen items, Hawkins said.
Once caught, Ver Milyea cooperated with authorities, confessing to his crimes and even telling detectives about items he'd stolen that they'd overlooked, Hawkins said.
Ver Milyea's defense lawyer, Capt. Travis Ausland, had requested a sentence of less than six months, no punitive discharge and no forfeitures. He noted that the airman confessed and has taken steps to help himself, such as getting financial counseling.
Because of a pretrial agreement, Ver Milyea will serve no more than 18 months of the 19-month federal prison term handed down by the judge.
Contact reporter Carol Ann Alaimo at calaimo@azstarnet.com or at 573-4138.
