Beach man pleads guilty to diverting Navy jet parts

NORFOLK

The former manager for the company that was in charge of a fighter-jet scrapping program pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to unlawfully selling and disposing of government property.

Jody Goucher, 46, of Virginia Beach was working at Oceana Naval Air Station to demilitarize and destroy Navy F-14 fighter aircraft that had been retired from service at the time the charges were brought against him, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Goucher, formerly of L3 Communications, and Matthew Sutton, an active-duty sailor assigned at Oceana, were accused of participating in a scheme in early 2005 to send demilitarized cockpits and components to Wayne Miller, former executive director of the Aviation Hall of Fame & Museum of New Jersey, the news release said, citing court documents.

The parts that normally would have been sold for scrap were instead exchanged for cash and gifts from Miller, according to the indictment.

Miller and Sutton have each pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to go to trial Jan. 20.

Goucher is scheduled to be sentenced in March.