Former Sergeant First Class William Chamberlain, 46, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and receiving stolen government property in federal court in North Carolina on Monday after having fought the charges for years, prosecutors said. Four other soldiers, who like Chamberlain were from the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and served in Afghanistan, pleaded guilty in 2014 while Chamberlain planned to defend himself at trial. The five defendants were accused of stealing $200,000 between July 2009 and January 2010 while deployed together in Afghanistan. They had access to classified funds for Special Forces to support counter-terrorism operations, in addition to money intended to buy supplies and support humanitarian projects such as building roads, schools and medical clinics, prosecutors said. When first approached by law enforcement, they falsely claimed they won the cash gambling or brought it with them from the United States.

Source: Dhaka Tribune January 15, 2020 19:07 UTC