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David Packouz

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David Packouz
Packouz in 2015
Born
David Mordechai Packouz

(1982-02-16) February 16, 1982 (age 42)
St Louis, Missouri, U.S.
EducationMiami-Dade College, University of Florida
Occupation(s)Inventor, musician, former arms dealer

David Packouz (/pækhaʊs/;[1] born February 16, 1982[2]) is an American inventor, musician, former arms dealer, and subject of the 2016 American comedy film War Dogs.

Packouz joined his partner Efraim Diveroli's arms company AEY Inc. in 2005; in 2007, the company won a contract from the United States Department of Defense to supply nearly $300 million worth of ammunition to the American-allied military of Afghanistan as part of the War on Terror.[3] Due to a technicality involving an arms embargo against China, the U.S. government suspended AEY for infringing upon the terms of its contract, although the ammunition had been "serviceable without qualification" as required by contract.[3] Documents showed that the company totaled more than $200 million in contracts to supply ammunition, assault rifles, and other weapons in 2007, despite the fact that Packouz and Diveroli were in their early 20s at the time. As a result of the publicity surrounding the contract and the age of the arms dealers, the United States Army began a review of its contracting procedures.[4]

A musician, Packouz later went on to invent a critically acclaimed guitar pedal drum machine, the BeatBuddy.[5] Packouz's BeatBuddy became the best-selling musical item or accessory on Indiegogo, and one of its most successful campaigns ever.[6]

Early life

Packouz was born in 1982 in St Louis, Missouri to a Jewish family. He is one of nine children, and the son of Rabbi Kalman Packouz, of Aish HaTorah.[7] Packouz grew up between Jerusalem and Miami Beach; a good student in high school in the United States, his parents sent him to Israel before graduating. A two-time college dropout, he attended the University of Florida but did not graduate before becoming a licensed masseur.[8]

Arms career and AEY

See also: Efraim Diveroli

Packouz's friend Efraim Diveroli approached him to work for his arms company, AEY Inc., in 2005—Efraim was only 19 years old at the time, while David was 23. By the end of 2006, they had won 149 contracts worth around $10.5 million,[9] accomplished by hours of scanning government contracts on the Internet and contacting foreign arms traffickers.

In early 2007, AEY Inc. secured a nearly $300 million U.S. government contract to supply the Afghan Army with 100 million rounds of AK-47 ammunition, millions of rounds for SVD Dragunov sniper rifles, and aviation rockets.[10][11] The ammo that AEY Inc. had secured in Albania to fulfill the contract had originally come from China, violating the terms of AEY's contract with the US Army banning Chinese ammunition due to an American embargo on the Chinese military industry.[12]

AEY Inc. repackaged the Chinese ammunition, which the United States government constituted as fraud.[3][13] The issue of the Chinese ammunition became the focal point of a months-long legal and logistical disturbance in the United States Army and the Department of Justice; AEY Inc. received much media attention, especially due to the age of the young Miami Beach arms dealers and their penchant for marijuana, earning them the epithet of "the stoner arms dealers" or "the dudes".[3][10][11][12]

Diveroli and David Packouz were convicted of fraud in January 2011. Diveroli was sentenced to four years in federal prison, while Packouz was sentenced to seven months' house arrest.[12]

The story was published in Guy Lawson's 2015 book Arms and the Dudes, and is being produced into the 2016 film War Dogs by Todd Phillips.[14] Packouz will be portrayed by Miles Teller.

BeatBuddy

See also: BeatBuddy

After his arms dealing, Packouz went on to pursue music.[7] He invented a guitar pedal, the BeatBuddy, the world's first guitar pedal drum machine.[15] The pedal was first engineered and manufactured in 2014, after crowdfunding via IndieGogo as one of the website's most successful campaigns ever.[6] The BeatBuddy has garnered numerous awards in the music world, from Guitar Player, Guitar World, NAMM, and others.[16]

Personal life

Packouz has one daughter, Amabelle Jane, born in 2007.[3] He is a musician,[7][17] and lives in Miami, Florida.

Arrests

Besides his conviction for fraud, Packouz has had other run-ins with the law. In 2012, he was arrested for prostitution. [18] Packouz was arrested at Motel 82 in Naples after allegedly agreeing to have sex with an undercover Collier County deputy for $400, according to police.[19][20] Packouz was ultimately found guilty of prostitution by a jury in 2013. [21]

Bibliography

  • Arms and the Dudes (Simon & Schuster, 2015) ISBN 978-1-4516-6759-2

References

  1. ^ RockandReview17 (January 28, 2015). BeatBuddy Pedal with David Packouz (YouTube). Nashville, TN: FOX 17 Rock & Review.
  2. ^ "PACKOUZ, DAVID MORDECHAI Booking Details". Bail Bond City.
  3. ^ a b c d e Lawson, Guy (June 2015). Arms and the Dues. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-6759-2.
  4. ^ Chivers, C.J. (April 27, 2008). "Allegations Lead Army to Review Arms Policy". The New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  5. ^ "Miami entrepreneur strikes chord with customers, raises $349,236 on crowdfunding campaign | The Starting Gate". miamiherald.typepad.com. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Miami entrepreneur rocks out with BeatBuddy crowdfunding campaign". iVentures. February 5, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c Bullock, Penn (September 25, 2008). "Accused Arms Dealer Trades Guns for a Guitar". comingsoon.net. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  8. ^ "Armed Again". Miami New Times.
  9. ^ Korten, Tristram (2009). "Playing with Fire". Details. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  10. ^ a b Schatz, Bryan (June 8, 2015). "How These Stoner Kids Landed a $300 Million Pentagon Arms Contract". Mother Jones. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  11. ^ a b Connelly, Sherryl (May 17, 2015). "Arms and the Dudes: How three Miami stoners scored a deal to arm the Afghan army". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  12. ^ a b c Lawson, Guy (March 16, 2011). "The Stoner Arms Dealers: How Two American Kids Became Big-Time Weapons Traders". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  13. ^ Sussman, Anna (June 19, 2015). "The Accidental Arms Dealer". NPR. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  14. ^ Evry, Max (April 30, 2015). "Arms & the Dudes: First Photos of Jonah Hill and Miles Teller on the Set". comingsoon.net. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  15. ^ Dahlberg, Nancy (December 20, 2013). "Crowdfunding Friday: Miami entrepreneur rocks out his Indiegogo campaign". Miami Herald. Miami. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  16. ^ "BeatBuddy - The world's first guitar pedal drum machine". BeatBuddy.
  17. ^ "Reverb Nation". Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  18. ^ "Collier County Inmate Details for PACKOUZ, DAVID MORDECHAI". Bail Bond City. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  19. ^ Reilly, Ryan. "Man Who Sold Old Chinese Ammunition To Army Arrested For Prostitution". Talking Points Memo.
  20. ^ "Man accused of prostitution linked to publicized ammunition fraud case". Naples Daily News.
  21. ^ "Search - Packouz, David". Collier County Public Inquiry Search.

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