Man pleads guilty to stealing RRAD tools

A welding contractor pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing tools and materials worth at least $33,000 from Red River Army Depot.

Matthew Randall Parsons,

37, pleaded guilty to theft of government property Tuesday at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven. Parsons will be scheduled for a sentencing hearing once the court has received a report detailing a pre-sentence investigation that will include a recommendation for punishment under federal sentencing guidelines.

Parsons stole from RRAD on “an almost daily basis” beginning in February 2015 and ending in February 2016, according to a factual basis used to create the following account. He was working for contractor AECOM as a welder/metal mechanic at the time.

Parsons’ thefts included air compressors, drills, grinding discs, welding curtains and other welding implements. He used the stolen goods to fabricate utility trailers that he then sold for a profit.

Parsons could be ordered to pay restitution to the government at sentencing.

Parsons was charged by an information earlier this month in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. His appearance in court Tuesday before Craven was his first in the case.

He is free on a $10,000 unsecured appearance bond.

Parsons was represented by local attorney Butch Dunbar.