An Army staff sergeant was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing $1 million from the government in a scam while she was serving in Afghanistan.
Tonya Long, a 13-year Army veteran, pleaded guilty to stealing at least $1 million in cash payments meant for Afghan drivers of trucks delivering supplies to U.S. military bases in Afghanistan, the Los Angeles Times reported.
During a hearing on March 4, prosecutors said Long would steal the money, then ship the money, stuffed in VCRs, to Pope Field, N.C., where the packages were picked up by a captain working with Long.
The money was then locked in safes at the captain's apartment near Fort Bragg.
Long spent more than $500,000 on a car, an 18-wheel tractor-trailer, vacations and cosmetic surgeries, prosecutors said.
"I cannot express how sorry I am ... I chose to betray my country and my family," Long said during the hearing. She told U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle that she would not ask for mercy "because I don't deserve it."
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