2 get probation for help in Pentagon ammo fraud

MIAMI – Two men who helped investigators unravel fraud in a $300 million Pentagon ammunition contract have been sentenced to probation instead of prison.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard in Miami agreed Thursday with prosecutors that David Packouz and Alexander Podrizki were vital in helping the U.S. convict two key people. Packouz is on probation for 14 months and Podrizki for 10 months. They could have spent years in prison.

Both were employees of defense contractor AEY Inc. The fraud involved shipment of millions of rounds of banned Chinese-made military ammunition to Afghan forces allied with the U.S. The rounds were repackaged to appear of Albanian origin.

Former AEY President Efraim Diveroli is serving a four-year prison sentence in the case.