A Tennessee man, Jerome Pendzich, offered body armor for sale on eBay and said in his listings that he shipped “worldwide.” Thereafter some intrepid ICE agents working the eBay beat convinced Pendzich to ship some NIJ Type IV small arms protective inserts to other feds in Bogota. Once Pendzich shipped the packages, which he labeled as gifts and ceramic plates, his home was raided and he confessed that he knew he needed an export license because the manufacturer of the plates had so informed him. Not surprisingly, Pendzich quickly negotiated a plea agreement.

One annoying aspect to the plea agreement is that it refers to the plates as “Level IV.” The United States Munitions List (“USML”), however, uses the same terminology as the National Institute of Justice standard, which is “Type IV.” Using the correct USML terminology might signal that the prosecutor might have looked at the USML at some point during his or her career. (Of course, it’s hard to get too worked up about this because the USML incorrectly refers to NIJ Types 1, 2, 2a, and 3a, instead of I, II, IIa, and IIIa as specified in the NIJ Standard.)

One other thing to note: ICE agents working the eBay beat probably don’t need to wear body armor while doing it.

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