A captain in the U.S. Army has pleaded guilty to stealing heavy equipment from Fort Stewart in Georgia and selling it via social media listings.
Jacob Suenkel, 32 of Richmond Hill, Georgia, stole skid steers, UTVs, generators, welders, commercial-grade hand tools and a tractor from the base near Savannah between late 2024 and May 2025, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia. The value of the stolen property exceeded $150,000. He would then list the equipment for sale on Facebook Marketplace and sell it to unsuspecting buyers, the attorney’s office says.
According to his plea agreement filed August 21, Suenkel has pleaded guilty to theft and sale of government property. The agreement listed one incident February 15 in which Suenkel entered Fort Stewart with a truck and trailer and stole a Bobcat skid steer from the Department of Public Works. He dropped the skid steer off at a storage lot in Richmond Hill. After posting it to Facebook Marketplace, he sold the skid steer for $22,000 on February 19.
Suenkel is awaiting sentencing, with possible max penalty of 10 years in prison, three years supervised release and a $250,000 fine. He also must pay restitution to victims. Under the plea agreement, he has made an initial payment of $50,000 toward the monetary part of the sentence. The total loss from the thefts is between $150,000 and $250,000. He has also agreed to be “discharged from the Army with an adverse characterization of service, which will result in the loss of veterans’ benefits,” according to the attorney’s office.
The plea agreement does not promise any imprisonment length, but it says the sentence could be reduced depending on his cooperation. The government says it will recommend he be sentenced at the low end of the the advisory guidelines range, according to the agreement.
“Suenkel betrayed not only the U.S. Army, but also the trust placed in him by the American people,” said Ryan O’Connor, special agent in charge, Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, Southeast Field Office.
The case was investigated by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division with assistance from the Richmond Hill Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy P. Dean.
