WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2021) A man from Texas has entered a guilty plea on a charge of selling Chinese-made military helmets and body armor to Federal agencies of the US government, the Justice Department said.
"A Celeste, Texas, man pleaded guilty today to a wire fraud scheme involving the selling of Chinese-made military helmets, body armor, and other products to the US Department of State and other federal agencies while falsely claiming that his company manufactured the goods in Texas," the Justice Department said in a release on Tuesday.
According to court documents, from June 2017 through December 2020, Tanner Jackson, 32, operated Top Body Armor and a related entity, Bullet Proof Armor from a rural area in Texas and was the lowest bidder on contracts to supply the State Department with helmets and body armor, the release said.
"Jackson altered or falsified ballistics laboratory test reports that he provided to the government. On one occasion, after his products failed testing at a legitimate laboratory, Jackson created his own fake ballistics laboratory - 'Texas Ballistics'- and simply produced fake reports giving himself passing scores," the release added.
The equipment was used by personnel guarding the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq but was removed from service after concerns about its quality came to light, the release said. Jackson is due to be sentenced on February 22, 2022 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, according to the release.
