Six Kaneohe Marines charged with selling and conspiring to sell military night vision devices are out on bail this weekend after an appearance in federal court Friday.

All six were released from federal custody on unsecured $25,000 signature bonds.

They had been in custody at the federal detention center since their arrest Tuesday.

All six are back with their units but are not restricted to quarters, said Maj. Alan Crouch, Marine Corps Base Hawaii public affairs officer.

Lance Cpl. Ryan A. Mathers was released Thursday. Lance Cpl. Charles L. Carper, Lance Cpl. Ronald W. Abram III, Lance Cpl. Jason Alan Flegm, Cpl. Mark Allen Vaught and Cpl. Brendon Shultz were released Friday.

Mathers, 20, Carper, 22, and Shultz, 24, are members of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, which is preparing for deployment, Crouch said.

Federal law enforcement officials arrested Carper at his home after he had allegedly earlier sold three ITT Nightquest PVS-14 Gen 3 Night Vision Monoculars to a cooperating defendant for $2,500 each.

Mathers and Abram, 20, were arrested Tuesday at Ala Moana Center after eight PVS-14s were sold for $20,000, officials said. Three co-defendants - Schultz, Flegm, 22, and Vaught, 23 - also were arrested for allegedly acting as lookouts for the transaction.

Carper told investigators he received the three devices he sold from Mathers. After he sold the cooperating defendant one of the devices, he said he would have to check with people from his paint ball team to see whether they were willing to sell their PVS-14s, according to the complaint.

He told investigators he believed the PVS-14s he received from Mathers were stolen from the armory.

The scope, which can be handheld or mounted on combat helmets or weapons, allows troops to see at distances in dark conditions, said Steven J. Marceleno, a special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The device is a controlled good under the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations and may only be exported with a license and by being registered with the U.S. State Department. None of the Marines met the qualifications, Marceleno said in court documents.

Abram's defense attorney, Richard Pafundi, said Friday that the scopes are readily available on the Internet.

The manufacturer said eight of the devices belong to the Marine Corps and the other three belong to the Army.

Crouch said the Marine Corps is conducting its own investigation regarding the loss of the devices.

“;Stealing, selling and exporting sensitive military technology are serious violations of federal law,”; said Wayne Wills, special agent in charge of the ICE office of investigations in Honolulu.

But Pafundi noted his client and the other Marines are charged with conspiracy, not theft of the scopes.