On Friday, Acting U.S. Attorney Steven W. Myhre for the District of Nevada announced that a Henderson man has pleaded guilty to selling stolen military-issued equipment. The equipment, which included ammunition and smoke grenades, was stolen from the United States Air Force.
38-year-old Temogen Tran Noguni pleaded guilty to a single count of unauthorized sale of property of the United States. Judge Gloria M. Navarro accepted his plea and scheduled for Noguni to be sentenced on November the 17th of this year. Noguni is now facing a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to the defendant’s plea agreement, he met co-defendants, Daniel Schwartz and Jonathan Joseph Owens, through the Vape and Shoot group. The group primarily shot firearms and smoked vapors in Las Vegas. Owens worked as a Staff Sergeant with the U.S. Air Force. Owens offered to provide Schwartz and Noguni with military ammunition for their own personal use. The ammunition was stolen from Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base.
Both men accepted the offer. Subsequently, Owens offered to sell Noguni other military equipment, including armor plate carrier vests, smoke grenades, and more ammunition. The duo met approximately 8 to 10 times to carry out related transactions. During the course of the scheme, Noguni purchased the following items.
- Night vision goggles and binoculars
- 9mm ammunition
- 5.56x45mm ammunition
- .50 caliber cartridges
- A red dot optical rifle scope
- Smoke grenades
The .50 caliber ammunition is not available to the general public. The ammunition is designed to pierce the shell of armor vehicles and then explode upon entry. Many of the containers used to carry the items were designated with military markings.
After acquiring the items, Noguni posted an advertisement online in an attempt to peddle the items. An undercover ATF agent purchased some of the items. 27-year-old Joseph Owens of North Las Vegas has pleaded guilty to theft of property of the United States. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 29, 2017.
42-year-old Daniel Schwartz of Las Vegas pleaded guilty to retaining stolen property of the United States. He has been sentenced to three years of probation.