Former Bragg Soldier Sentenced for Smuggling $1M from Afghanistan

A former Fort Bragg soldier pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges as a co-conspirator who shipped more than $1 million worth of VCRs from Afghanistan back to the United States while assigned to the 189th Combat Sustainment Battalion, attached to the 7th Special Forces Group.

Staff Sgt. Tonya Long, 29, of Fayetteville, used her position as a customs inspector from January 2008 through April 2009 and kept the money in a safe in her Fayetteville apartment. Long performed duties as a customs inspector by inspecting personal property of military service members before it was loaded into containers for shipment back to the United States.

Neither Long nor the other unnamed person declared the currency upon entry into the United States. Long acted with the intent to evade the currency reporting requirements, according to the media release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

According to a Fayetteville Observer report, she spent nearly $500,000 on herself and her family on large purchases, including a vacation, a car, personal surgeries, and a tractor-trailer.

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