Ex-Guardsman sentenced in Arizona border fence theft

Posted: 09/16/2010
By: Associated Press

TUCSON, AZ - A former Air National Guardsman has been given a 15-month federal prison sentence for stealing and selling scrap metal from an Arizona border fence project.

Prosecutors say 50-year-old Robert J. Kelley was found guilty in March of one count of theft of government property, a crime that could have imprisoned him for 10 years. He was ordered to pay nearly $43,000 in restitution and be on three years of supervised release after his prison term.

Kelley, a Wyoming resident, was part of a National Guard task force that helped build fences along the Arizona-Mexico border in 2007 and 2008. He was accused of stealing at least five truckloads of scrap metal, selling the materials for $11,450.

Prosecutors told the Arizona Daily Star that Kelley used money from the sale of the scrap metal to buy things such as a handgun, a garage door opener, cowboy boots and tools.
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