ELKINS, W.Va. — A federal grand jury indicted a current and retired member of the West Virginia Army National Guard Tuesday on various charges including embezzlement.
According to U.S. Attorney Bill Powell, Sergeant First Class Shane Morgan and his father Master Sergeant (retired) Russell Morgan stole at least 80 items worth $80,000 from the United States Property and Fiscal Office warehouse in Buckhannon where they worked from 2010 to 2017.
Shane Morgan, 35, of Buckhannon, is charged with one count each of conspiracy to embezzle government property, embezzling government property, unauthorized sale of government property and issuing a false written statement.
Russell Morgan, 61, of Helvetia, faces one count each of conspiracy to embezzle and embezzlement. He was the warehouse supervisor from 2009 to 2016.
The indictment alleges both men used some of the stolen property for “their personal purposes, sold some of the stolen property and donated other items of the stolen property.”
Items stolen, sold or donated included parachute packing tables, a John Deere Gator and an inflatable bounce house.
According to the indictment, The USPFO-WV (warehouse) receives and repurposes federal government equipment that has come to the end of its administrative life cycle.
Conviction on the charges carry possible multiple years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.