A 32-year-old Army captain is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty Thursday to selling stolen items from Fort Stewart, Georgia, including generators, welders and a tractor.
Capt. Jacob Suenkel, of Richmond Hill, Georgia, stole the equipment between late 2024 to May 2025 while serving at the post, according to prosecutors.
Suenkel stole more than $150,000 worth of skid-steer loaders, UTVs, trailers, generators, welders, commercial-grade hand tools and a tractor and sold them on social media platforms, such as Facebook Marketplace.
“Jacob Suenkel violated the trust of his employer and unsuspecting buyers, and is being held accountable for his theft,” U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Heap said in a statement Monday. “This guilty plea offers assurance that those who commit theft will be brought to justice.”
Ryan O’Connor, special agent in charge at the southeast field office of the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, added: “Stealing from the Army isn’t simply about lost property; it’s a matter of national security and good stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
Suenkel’s most costly theft was that of a Bobcat skid-steer, which retail between $30,000 to $80,000, depending on their size.
According to court documents, Suenkel drove onto Fort Stewart in his personal truck with a trailer attached to it in mid-February. He went to the base’s Department of Public Works, loaded a Bobcat skid-steer and drove the equipment to a storage lot off post.
Four days later, he sold the Bobcat for $22,000 to a customer he’d met through a posting on Facebook Marketplace.
“Defendant admits that he did not have, and knew that he did not have, lawful authority to take the Bobcat,” the plea agreement reads.
Suenkel faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
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