Ex-Marine Gets Probation for Government Thefts

A New Jersey man who had been assigned to was sentenced to five years probation for government property thefts valued at more than $375,000. 

Christopher Cook, 30, of Lakehurst, N.J., a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant will serve the first eight months of his sentence in a community confinement center. Federal authorities said Cook stole 60,000 pounds of aluminum helicopter landing pads and other metal objects from the former base worth approximately $377,617.

, authorities alleged that the thefts, coupled with the approximate $760,000 destruction of U.S. government property, were valued at a combined total of more than $1.5 million.

On 22 separate occasions, between August 2010 and February 2011, Cook visited a local scrap metal dealer and exchanged the stolen aluminum landing pads and other metal objects for more than $50,000 in cash. He used the proceeds to pay for, among other things, trips, jewelry, clothing, entertainment, and repairs to his truck.        

Cook was charged in October. The six-page indictment had alleged that Cook, then a member of the 1,100-acre air base's Marine Corps Wing Support Squadron 472, had rented U-Haul trucks from a local dealer, drove them onto the Willow Grove air base and loaded them with 60,000 pounds of metal. 

In addition to probation, U.S. District Court Judge William H. Yohn Jr. ordered Cook to pay restitution in the amount of $377,617 and a special assessment of $200. The case was investigated by Naval Criminal Investigative Service and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John J. Pease.