Two US soldiers part of NY crew that sold stolen military gear online: cops

Two US soldiers and a civilian National Guard employee ran a lucrative scam allegedly stealing official military gear from upstate arsenals and peddling it to online customers from Texas to Queens, police said.

The military-grade material included guns, helmets, radios — and even a ballistic vest that was seized before it was shipped to Russia, state police said.

The accused crooks allegedly pillaged a US Army Military Police detachment in upstate Auburn and a National Guard station in Syracuse and sold the goods on Facebook Marketplace, pocketing tens of thousands of dollars, New York State Police said in a release.

James Waleski, 50, a civilian working at the 174th Air National Guard Attack Wing in Syracuse was accused of being the ring leader, with two other alleged cohorts — Military Police Officer Gordon Reynolds, 44, and Jorlann Garcia-Hernandez, 38, a supply specialist with 152nd Engineer Brigade.

Troopers began an investigation into the illegal operation last month, cops said.

“Further investigation revealed that Waleski was stealing military equipment, some sensitive in nature, and selling the items online and in person,” the department’s press release said.

“The New York State Police recovered thousands of dollars of military equipment from Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida and locally from Taberg and Flushing, NY,” it said. “In one instance investigators recovered a ballistic vest that was being reshipped to Russia.”

State police launched the investigation after getting a tip from the US Army Criminal Investigation Division.

Troopers executed a search warrant and also found an illegal assault rifle — not part of the military goods scam — in Waleski’s house in upstate Jamesville.

Waleski was charged with grand larceny, 10 counts of criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful sale of body armor, according to police.

Reynolds was charged with possession of stolen property and possession of a weapon, while Garcia-Hernandez was hit with a misdemeanor charge of petty larceny.

A fourth suspect, 40-year-old Jennifer Waleski, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon. Jennifer Waleski lived at the same address as James Waleski and the pair are married, according to cops.