Alabama man, 37, who applied for a ‘work from home’ job online was tricked into shipping weapons to Russia – and now he’s serving jail time
- Douglas Glover, 37, of Birmingham, Alabama pleaded guilty to attempted unlawful exportation of firearms in April and was sentenced to 16 months
- He told authorities in December of 2016 that he unwittingly started sending illegal goods after responding to a job ad on Monster.com
- Someone who went by the name ‘Ginger M. Towers’ from a company calling itself ‘North Star Freight’ offered to pay Glover $25 for every package he shipped
- Postal inspectors intercepted a package containing an iPad bought with a stolen credit card that was shipped to Glover’s home
- They told him he’d face charges if he shipped more packages for the company
- But the scammers told Glover the feds were frauds who were trying to ‘steal the packages he had been assigned to ship’
- Glover fell for it and sent four more packages labeled ‘toy parts’ that actually contained a total of 168 high-capacity magazines for AK-47s and glock handguns
An Alabama man who posted his resume online was tricked into sending weapons to Russia after falling for a ‘work from home’ scam.
Douglas Glover, 37, of Birmingham has now been jailed for 16 months after he unwittingly tried to send items including 50 high-capacity AK-47 magazines.
He reported to federal prison on May 14 after he agreed to plead guilty to a count of attempted unlawful exportation of firearms in exchange for other federal charges being dropped.
The Daily Beast broke the story on Glover’s arrest on Thursday.
Douglas Glover, 37, of Birmingham Alabama pleaded guilty to attempted unlawful exportation of firearms in April and was sentenced to 16 months for sending packages labeled ‘toy parts’ that actually contained a total of 108 high-capacity magazines for AK-47 semi-automatic rifles
Glover told authorities in December of 2016 that he unwittingly started sending illegal goods after responding to a job ad on Monster.com
His ordeal began in December of 2016 when the US Postal Service intercepted a package being sent to Glover’s house that contained an iPad purchased with a stolen credit card.
Postal inspectors went to Glover’s home and asked him why he was receiving packages under someone else’s name.
Glover told them he’d accepted a job he saw on Monster.com from a company supposedly called North Star Freight.
His boss, who went by the name ‘Ginger M. Powers’ tasked him with receiving packages before sending them back out to a Russian address.
Glover received $25 for every package he sent.
The investigators told Glover he was being used as a ‘mule’ in a ‘re-shipping scheme.’
‘In such schemes, illegitimate businesses engage in various criminal conduct to move fraudulently purchased merchandise from the United States to foreign countries,’ the investigators explained, according to court records.
‘These illegitimate businesses complete this scheme by putting out advertisements to hire people to work from home and to receive packages from various couriers. The companies then instruct the “employees” to repackage or re-label and ship the… parcels out to various addresses, often overseas. The illegitimate businesses will often pay these “employees” for the acceptance, repackaging, and reshipment of these parcels.’
Glover accepted a plea deal in April at US Northern District Court of Alabama in Birmingham (pictured) in exchange for a reduced sentence
The feds told Glover not to send anymore packages and that he could be receive federal charges if he did.
The 37-year-old told emailed ‘Ginger’ about what happened and said he was quitting his ‘job’.
‘I hate to inform u, but i can not receive packages anymore. So i am quitting this position. Please stop shipment of any other packages,’ he wrote, according to the Daily Beast.
But ‘Ginger’ responded with a slew of ‘urgent’ emails and eventually convinced Glover the federal agents he talked to were actually ‘fraudsters’ sending ‘possibly fake email messages’ to ‘steal the packages he had been assigned to ship.’
A week later, Glover later told the postal inspectors finally he’d have to talk with his Russian supervisors about the ordeal. Meanwhile, he resumed sending packages on December 16, 2016, but this time he wasn’t sending harmless iPads.
Authorities said Glover also illegally shipped a box of 60 extended clips for glock handguns
A postal inspector told investigators a high-capacity magazine for an AK-47 military rifle fell out of the bottom of one of Glover’s packages after some of the tape gave way.
‘Because the tape that was used to seal the first package had detached from the box, the Postal Agent could see inside the box and was able to observe that it appeared to be full of AK-47 magazines without ammo,’ prosecutors wrote in Glover’s plea agreement.
A total of 108 30-round capacity AK-47 magazines were sent to Glover’s address along with another box of 60 extended clips for Glock handguns and some car parts.
The boxes were labeled ‘toy parts’, but federal investigators said Glover later admitted knowing that the packages actually contained gun parts.
He was interviewed again by postal investigators in July of 2017 before an indictment was issued four months later.