Marco DeCamillo Gets 1 Year for Body Armor Fraud

Former Pennsylvania police officer Marco DeCamillo, 41, of Reading, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for mail fraud tied to the sale of misbranded body armor. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake handed down the sentence in Baltimore, Maryland, and ordered DeCamillo to pay $124,000 in restitution to victims of his scheme.

DeCamillo, once a sworn officer in West Reading, PA, ran a tactical gear business called Mad Dragon Tactical (MDT), selling law enforcement equipment—including rifle plates—through online auction and shopping sites. Under his plea agreement, he admitted to selling approximately $169,000 worth of body armor falsely advertised as certified by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the federal agency responsible for ballistic testing standards.

The scam unraveled in December 2015 when a defense contractor and NIJ-accredited lab—identified as the “victim lab”—alerted the FBI that MDT had altered and used their 2013 ballistic test sheet in online listings. The original test results were for a ballistic shield, not the steel rifle plates DeCamillo was selling. Investigators found multiple listings featuring doctored versions of the lab’s report, some modified with white-out and handwritten claims of stopping armor-piercing rounds.

In January and February 2016, FBI agents in Maryland conducted controlled purchases from MDT using an undercover identity. All three shipments were mailed from Pennsylvania to Maryland via U.S. Mail, listed DeCamillo’s home address as the return, and contained hard copies of the falsified test sheets. One document included a hand-scrawled note claiming the plates stopped .308 and 7.62×39 armor-piercing rounds—claims with no basis in testing.

When HSI executed a search warrant at DeCamillo’s residence, agents recovered numerous altered ballistic sheets and other evidence of fraud. During questioning by HSI and FBI investigators, DeCamillo admitted he knew his body armor was not NIJ certified and acknowledged using his law enforcement credentials to gain trust. Many buyers were fellow officers, military personnel, or defense contractors relying on his claims for life-or-death protection.

Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen M. Schenning, who prosecuted the case alongside Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel M. Yasser, praised the investigative work by HSI Philadelphia and the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office. The case underscores how criminals exploit institutional trust for profit—especially when the product is supposed to save lives.