Retired Delta Force soldier charged with stealing grenades, classified documents

The federal government is trying again to prosecute a retired Army special operations soldier from Fort Liberty, accusing him of stealing grenades, classified documents and other military property.

The items were discovered in a civilian self-storage unit in 2022, after the soldier, retired Master Sgt. Parker Allen Gibson of Harnett County, had left the Army in October 2021, according to a court record. Gibson had served in the 3rd Operational Support Group — the official name for the secretive Delta Force — a transcript says. He was awarded two Bronze Star Medals and a Purple Heart.

The first attempt to prosecute Gibson ended when a magistrate in August 2022 dismissed the case following a hearing on whether there was probable cause — sufficient evidence — to charge him with a crime.

On Feb. 21, the government succeeded in levying charges against Gibson when a federal grand jury handed up a five-count criminal indictment.

He was arrested March 12, the court record says, and had an appearance before a federal magistrate in Raleigh on March 13. A filing says he is free pending trial, and is subject to GPS monitoring of his location.

The charges and background of Gibson’s arrest were previously reported by The Courts Newsletter of The Assembly online statewide news magazine, a publishing partner of CityView.

The indictment alleges:

• Gibson received and possessed unspecified stolen U.S. military items from June 2016 to June 22, 2022.
• From January to June 2, 2020, Gibson stole grenades.
• From January 2020 to June 22, 2022, he possessed the stolen grenades.
• From January 2020 to June 22, 2022, Gibson possessed a grenade that was not registered to him under the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
• Between January and June 2, 2020, Gibson took classified documents to keep them in an unauthorized location.

Court records from the attempt to prosecute Gibson in 2022 say Gibson’s wife, who also was a soldier, in May 2022 found military equipment in a civilian self-storage unit off N.C. 24 in Harnett County near the Linden Oaks housing area of Fort Liberty. The documents say she had rented the unit at Gibson’s behest.

She reported what she found to military authorities, the records say, although not until the latter half of June.

An investigator said authorities recovered from the storage unit:

• Two Army Puma surveillance drone aircraft. Court documents say Gibson was a partner in an aerial photography business.
• Unspecified classified materials.
• Two incendiary grenades and a red smoke grenade.
• 6,300 rounds of ammunition, with some lot numbers on the ammunition associated with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

Gibson was arrested July 22, 2022, then released on Aug. 1, 2022, following the probable cause hearing where the magistrate dismissed the case against him, the records say.

The magistrate said that based on what he heard and saw at hearing, there was question as to whether Gibson had access to steal the items and as to who put them in the storage unit and when.

Further, the magistrate said, the hearing presented evidence that someone was going into the storage unit in the approximately 50 days between May 1, 2022, when Gibson’s wife said she discovered the military items, and late June, when she told the Army.

Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.

This story was made possible by contributions to CityView News Fund, a 501c3 charitable organization committed to an informed democracy.