Camp Pendleton

The principals and an employee of a Chicago company that deals in surplus military gear were convicted Wednesday of conspiring to receive government property stolen from Camp Pendleton.

A U.S. District Court jury in San Diego convicted American Waste Fibers Inc., owner George Saltzman, his son Mark Saltzman and employee Sheldon Wechter on all charges in an extensive indictment.

The charges were part of Operation Rip-Stop, an undercover “sting” in which agents of the FBI and the Naval Investigative Service operated a storefront in Oceanside to sell Marine Corps property that had been stolen from Camp Pendleton to military surplus dealers across the country.

More than 100 dealers have been convicted in federal court on charges stemming from the operation, and 43 Marines have been found guilty in courts-martial, according to U.S. Atty. Peter K. Nunez.

U.S. District Judge Earl B. Gilliam ordered Mark Saltzman held without bail pending sentencing. He faces a maximum sentence of 137 years in prison and a fine of $125,000. He and American Waste Fibers are under indictment in North Carolina on federal charges of receiving military equipment stolen from Fort Bragg.

Gilliam ordered George Saltzman jailed pending the posting of an additional $50,000 bond, while Wechter remains free on a bond increased to $25,000.

Testimony at the trial indicated that a network of military surplus retailers and wholesalers purchases large quantities of stolen military property from servicemen in all branches of the armed forces at installations nationwide, Nunez said.