Two Former Lake City Employees Plead Guilty to Sabotage of War Materials
Admit to Stealing Thousands of Pounds of Copper Used to Manufacture Bullets for the Army

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that two former employees of a firm operating at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Mo., pleaded guilty in federal court today to stealing more than 16,000 pounds of copper components used to manufacture ammunition for the U.S. Army, which they sold for scrap metal.

Charles Dale Osborn, 46, of Odessa, Mo., and Timothy Duane Langevin, 36, of Independence, Mo., pleaded guilty in separate appearances today before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to the charge contained in an April 14, 2008, federal indictment.

Osborn and Langevin admitted that they participated in a conspiracy to steal specially fabricated copper components, known in the munitions industry as bullet cups, which are used to manufacture copper-jacketed 7.62 mm bullets, from the Lake City plant from Sept. 27, 2007, through March 28, 2008. Osborn and Langevin delivered the bullet cups for destruction to the Fusselman Salvage Company in Moberly, Mo.

The diversion of bullet cups interfered with and obstructed the ability of the United States to prepare for and carry on war activities by interrupting the supply of 7.62 mm rounds of ammunition to the U.S. Army. The 7.62 mm rounds are manufactured by Alliant Techsystems, Inc., at the Lake City plant under a contract with the U.S. Army to deliver 7.62 mm ammunition to be used by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Osborn and Langevin were employed as machine repairmen by Alliant Techsystems during the course of the conspiracy.

Osborn and Langevin diverted approximately 16,528 pounds of copper bullet cups from the Lake City plant to Fusselman Salvage Company. That amount of copper would otherwise have produced approximately 1.5 million rounds of ammunition, and amounts to more than two weeks' production of 7.62 mm ammunition. Osborn and Langevin shared approximately $45,362 in proceeds from salvaging the copper material, which was valued at $78,838.

Osborn and Langevin initially used five gallon buckets to transport the bullet cups from the grounds of Lake City to the salvage company. Later, they used a company forklift to move entire skids of large boxes containing the bullet cups to a pickup truck for transport. Finally, the amounts of material became so large that the conspirators rented a U-Haul trailer to transport the material.

Under federal statutes, Osborn and Langevin could be subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. Under the terms of today's plea agreements, the government and the defendants have agreed that the defendants should be sentenced to at least two years in federal prison without parole.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Cowles. It was investigated by the U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html