Ex-Forest Service Official, Aviation Broker Indicted
Aviation broker Roy D. Reagan and former Forest Service official Fred Fuchs were indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on charges that they conspired to steal firefighting planes as part of a controversial property exchange program.
The pair were charged with conspiracy and theft of government property, U.S. Atty. Janet Napolitano said.
They are accused of conspiring to illegally convert 28 excess military aircraft valued at $28 million to private contractor use.
The indictment also accuses them of a single count of theft based on the unauthorized transfer of title of a C-130 air tanker by Reagan and Fuchs from U.S. government ownership to TBM Inc., an air tanker operator in Tulare, Calif.
Under the exchange program, the Forest Service gave the planes to private contractors in return for historical planes that were to be displayed at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.
But the museum director said the planes provided by the contractors lacked historical significance.
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