Afghan Military Theft Ring Leads To Prison For Gwinnett Woman

GEORGIA — A Gwinnett County woman who helped sneak unvetted locals into a U.S. military base in Afghanistan has been sentenced to prison for her role in a theft ring.

Varita V. Quincy, 35, of Snellville was sentenced Tuesday in Alexandria, Virginia, to 51 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States, stealing its property and making false statements. She was also ordered to pay nearly $180,000 in restitution. Quincy pleaded guilty to the charges last fall, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Quincy admitted that she and others plotted in 2015 to steal property worth more than $150,000 from the Kandahar military installation. Court documents showed that generators and a truck were among the items stolen.

Using her job as a contractor in charge of security badging, Quincy created fake documents that allowed “unknown and unvetted Afghan nationals and their vehicles” on base to steal military property, according to the court papers. Another co-conspirator then negotiated sale of the property “with a third-country national middleman, who in turn facilitated the sale of the items to unknown persons in Kandahar,” the Justice Department said in its statement.

“The defendant, along with her co-conspirators, helped orchestrate and execute the scheme to circumvent the military base’s security protocols for their own financial gain,” said Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “We will continue to hold accountable those who compromise the safety of the courageous women and men protecting us overseas."