WASHINGTON D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- A former United States Army sergeant on Tuesday pleaded guilty to stealing equipment in Iraq and then selling it in the black market, prosecutors said.

Robert Ashley Nelson, 46, of San Antonio, Texas, was deployed to Forward Operating Base Diamondback, Iraq, as the non-commissioned officer-in-charge of the Ninewa Operations Command Military Transition Team that helped train the Iraqi Army units stationed in the region.

The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to steal public property. According to the court documents, Nelson agreed with a U.S. Army translator to steal eight generators from a lot of used equipment while serving in Iraq.

Once the generators were taken off the base, the translator arranged them to be sold in the Iraqi black market. Nelson received half of the proceeds from the sales of the stolen equipment.

The translator wired $35,000 of the money to Nelson's bank account. In total, the former Army sergeant received approximately $44,830 from the scheme. The investigation on the conspiracy is ongoing.

The defendant faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. In addition, Nelson agreed to forfeit the $44,830 of illegal proceeds. He will be sentenced on October 5.

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