Reservist found guilty of lying to live at base

Minutes after a federal jury convicted Scott Allan Bennett on Thursday of lying his way onto housing at MacDill Air Force Base, then failing to register 10 guns and more than 9,000 rounds of ammunition, U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington drove home the totality of the lies, misstatements and exaggerations by the U.S. Army Reserve 2nd Lieutenant.

"In such a difficult time, MacDill Air Force Base is the center of our operations," said Covington as she ordered Bennett to be taken to jail immediately. "To me, as an ordinary American, I am so frightened by what happened."

The events that worried Covington began Jan. 20, 2010, when Bennett, who had top secret security clearance, was able to talk his way onto a flight with Adm. Eric Olson, head of U.S. Special Operations Command. The next day, Bennett showed up at the base housing office in his Army uniform, told employees he was an aide to Olson and demanded and was given housing even though he didn't have proper paperwork.

When asked later for the paperwork, Bennett wrote an email saying he was under top secret orders to Centcom and had to get authorization.

Bennett, who was a counter-threat finance analyst for contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, continued working in one of U.S. Central Command's most secure facilities, the Joint Intelligence Operations Center. And he continued living at the base, even though he wasn't supposed to because he was not on active duty.

It all ended in April 2010, when he was stopped during a routine security inspection at the Dale Mabry gate. Tampa Police assisting base security found a concealed weapon in Bennett's BMW and one in his jacket pocket. Police arrested him on DUI charges and when he returned to the base, Air Force security found eight more weapons and the ammunition in his apartment.

Bennett was fired from his job and his actions prompted a change for those seeking housing on bases. Now everyone must have all paperwork before moving in.

But even after the incident at MacDill, Bennett kept up his deceptions, according to prosecutors. In April, he tried to get onto Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, in Arlington, Va., while in a police uniform. And in June, he faked his way into a closed event at the Embassy of Finland, in Washington, D.C., prosecutors say.

Jurors convicted Bennett of one count of making a false statement, one count of wearing his uniform without authorization and two counts of violating a security agreement by bringing concealed weapons on base and storing weapons and ammunition in his apartment without permission.

Bennett, who faces up to seven years and six months in prison, will be sentenced Oct. 25.