Camp Pendleton
More arrests were made Friday in the joint FBI and military undercover operation that began 1 1/2 years ago to stop thefts of military goods from Camp Pendleton.
Four men connected with an Oroville-based military surplus store were indicted Friday by the San Diego federal grand jury on charges that they bought supplies stolen from the Oceanside Marine base, U.S. Atty. Peter K. Nunez said.
International Surplus Wholesalers Inc. was indicted along with its president, Steven Seidenglanz, 45; an employee, John Lane, 37; a former employee, James Pennington, 48, and Rodger Koch, 53, an employee of Surplus City, a military-surplus outfit based in Sun Valley, Calif.
The men are accused of purchasing military equipment, such as camouflage netting, gas masks and flak jackets, stolen from Camp Pendleton by Marines who have since been convicted of unauthorized sale of government property.
They are also accused of buying military gear from Golden State Surplus, an undercover store set up in Oceanside as part of the FBI and Naval Investigative Service investigation known as Operation Rip-Stop.
Since November, 1984, 90 thieves and dealers have been convicted in federal court and 42 others have been found guilty in military courts-martial.
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