Portland — A high-ranking airman in the Oregon Air National Guard was arrested Monday morning after an eight-month investigation into allegations he stole flat-screen TVs, motorcycles and other equipment from the military and sold some of it on Craigslist.
Adam Michael Monticelli of Vancouver, a senior master sergeant in the elite 125th Special Tactics Squadron, is to be arraigned this afternoon.
Monticelli, 33, has been under investigation since October, according to a government search-warrant affidavit filed in February. Other members of the 125th squadron have not been implicated in the investigation, said Capt. Stephen Bomar, a spokesman for the Oregon Military Department.
Federal agents raided the Vancouver home of Monticelli and his wife, Lauren, on Feb. 19. Among other items, they seized a Samsung 32-inch flat-screen TV; a Canon camera, a certificate of ownership of a 2006 Suzuki, three BlackBerry cell phones, Oakley sunglasses, knives and two infrared flares, according to federal court papers.
Monticelli’s neighbors told investigators that they had seen him bring home vehicles and other equipment and store them in his garage, according to the government’s affidavit, written by Special Agent James E. McMaken, an investigator for the Department of Defense’s Office of the Inspector General. Monticelli sometimes delivered the gear in a blue U.S. Air Force truck with white government plates.
Agents also interviewed a man who bought two Suzuki RM-85 motorcycles from Monticelli after seeing them advertised on Craigslist. Records showed that the original purchaser of the two was the “125 Special Tactics Squad” which bought a total of eight motorcycles for $23,600, the affidavit states.
Monticelli, who joined the 125th squadron four years ago, has been on administrative status since the Guard learned of the investigation, Bomar said. On Friday, Monticelli, who has a total of 15 years of active-duty service with the U.S. Air Force and Oregon Air National Guard, submitted paperwork requesting a discharge. The characterization of the discharge as honorable or dishonorable will be determined after June 30, Bomar said.
Because Monticelli will be five years short of a 20-year required service time, he will not receive any retirement benefits, Bomar said.
The 125th — one of only two Air Force special tactics squadrons associated with the Guard — is a combat-operations team headquartered at the Portland air base. The highly skilled team often is the first to land in order to prepare the way for rescue helicopters or other vehicles. Members are dispatched by themselves or in small teams to other units and have served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Haiti, among other places.
