Military Vehicles, March 1997,: Fort McCoy trail update 3/11/97
Fort McCoy trail update 3/11/97
MVBOATNUT@aol.com
Tue, 11 Mar 1997 17:52:34 -0500 (EST)
Fort McCoy theft case goes to jury
By Kevin Murphy
Special to the Journal Sentinel
March 11, 1997
Madison -- The Hudson collector on trial in the Fort McCoy vehicle theft case
was interested only in
preserving military history when he rescued rusted hulks of Sherman tanks,
his attorney told jurors
Monday.
After closing arguments Monday, jurors began deliberating the 11 counts,
including theft and bribery,
against Leo A. 'Tony' Piatz Jr. After deliberating several hours Monday
night, the jury went home and
is expected to resume deliberations today.
Piatz, 37, arrived at Fort McCoy in August 1994 looking for parts to restore
Sherman tanks when the
base near Tomah was under orders to pull old vehicle targets back from the La
Crosse River that runs
through the main firing range.
Piatz's attorney, Steven Pihlaja, told jurors that Donald Crandall, a range
safety officer, knew he could
get Piatz to help clean up the contaminated range and pocket some money doing
so.
When Piatz asked to retrieve the damaged tanks, Crandall asked for $30,000 as
a bribe, which Piatz
paid, Pihlaja said. Crandall drew up paperwork to authorize removal of the
tanks and called it a fair
deal for the Army and Piatz, Pihlaja said.
Although Piatz ended up taking a wide variety of vehicles from the fort, the
Army placed little value
on any of them, Pihlaja said. The vehicles included snow-blower trucks,
armored-track vehicles and
Jeeps.
Pihlaja also charged that Piatz looked to Crandall and an undercover agent,
posing as a defense
contracts expert, for the approval to take and use vehicles the Army had
shown little interest in,
Pihlaja said.
Prosecutor Daniel Bach said Piatz knew Crandall did not have authority to
give him the vehicles he
would take and sell for at least $285,000, and his paying off Crandall proved
it.
"A normal person wouldn't pay (the bribe) but report Crandall for extortion,"
Bach said.
The bogus agreement Crandall and Piatz had covered only junk vehicles from
the firing ranges and
not the ones in pristine condition that Piatz pulled from holding areas or
had another base employee
order for him from bases in other states, Bach said.
Piatz faces a maximum of 125 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
Crandall has pleaded guilty to
converting government property for his own purpose and is to be sentenced
next month before
Federal Judge Barbara B. Crabb. Five other men indicted for conspiracy to
steal government property
are scheduled for trial in June.