A U.S. military employee uses a Bobcat skid steer at the Vaziani Training Area near Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2023. Army Capt Jacob Suenkel, 32, pleaded guilty in federal court to selling a Bobcat, a tractor and other equipment he stole from units at Fort Stewart, Ga. (Christian Carrillo/U.S. Army)

An Army officer in Georgia has pleaded guilty to unlawfully selling heavy-duty equipment he stole from an Army base outside Savannah, the Justice Department said this week.

Federal authorities say 32-year-old Capt. Jacob Suenkel, who was serving on active duty at Fort Stewart, stole more than $150,000 worth of generators, welders, commercial grade hand tools, a tractor and other items from various Army units and sold them to unsuspecting buyers through social media.

In one incident, according to court documents, Suenkel drove on base hauling a trailer on his pickup truck, loaded up a Bobcat skid steer loader from the public works department and took it to a storage lot. He sold the loader on Facebook Marketplace for approximately $22,000.

“Jacob Suenkel violated the trust of his employer and unsuspecting buyers, and is being held accountable for his theft,” Margaret Heap, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, said in a statement Monday announcing the guilty plea.

As part of the plea deal, Suenkel agreed to an initial payment of $50,000 to go toward restitution, which has yet to be determined. He also agreed to an other-than-honorable discharge, which will result in a loss of veterans’ benefits.

The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine in addition to paying restitution to victims of the sales. The government will recommend that Suenkel be sentenced to the low end of the advisory guidelines determined by the court, according to the plea agreement.