Are Police Profiting from 'Lost' Military Weapons?

A recent grand jury indictment against a former police chief from a small town in central Texas suggests that not all of the Pentagon's missing weapons are simply misplaced somewhere in a forgotten gun locker.

A Fusion investigation published earlier this week revealed that 184 state and local police departments have been suspended from the Pentagon's "1033" military surplus transfer program for reporting missing weapons or failing to comply with other guidelines. The investigation uncovered a pattern of missing equipment, including military-issue M14 and M16 assault rifles, .45-caliber pistols, shotguns and even Humvees.

Now, two federal indictments obtained by Fusion allege that some of that missing equipment — including an M14 assault rifle — was resold or transferred to unauthorized third parties by police officials.

William Jason Kelcy, who served as Chief of Texas' Rising Star Police Department from 2009-2013, was indicted earlier this year on allegations that he "sold, traded, pawned" and transferred several "high value military surplus items," including an M14 assault rifle.

"[D]uring the time he served as police chief, Kelcy, by making false and fraudulent representations about the intended use and/or recipient(s) of equipment, sought and obtained more than $4 million worth of property and equipment from the 1033 Program," reads a Department of Justice statement following the indictment filed in Texas last February. Count two of the indictment alleges that "in late June 2012, Kelcy transferred and attempted to transfer a Thompson Ramo Wooldridge M14 machine gun."

The indictment states that Kelcy, who died of metastatic melanoma last May before the case went to trial, "gave, sold, bartered, or otherwise disposed of the equipment to other law enforcement agencies, officers, and private citizens with no law enforcement responsibilities."