Army Sgt. Marvin L. Ware appeared Thursday in federal court in Honolulu on charges stemming from a scheme to steal jet fuel from Forward Operating Base Fenty, near Jalalabad, Afghanistan, in exchange for bribes from an Afghan trucking contractor.

Ware, 46, who is stationed at Schofield Barracks, pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiring to solicit and accept bribes, one count of bribery, one count of theft and one count of money laundering based on the transfer, from Afghanistan to Wahiawa, Hawaii, of $25,000 which he knew were proceeds of his offenses, and which transfer was designed to conceal the nature, source and ownership of the funds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Trial was scheduled for July 21 before U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi.

The indictment returned Wednesday by a federal grand jury alleges that between December 2011 and February 2012, Ware and two other servicemen conspired to accept, and accepted, bribes in return for participating with the contractor in the theft of jet fuel from FOB Fenty. According to the indictment, Ware and the others agreed to fill and divert jingle trucks, in return for which they received $6,000 for each truckload of stolen fuel.

If convicted, Ware will face maximum penalties of five years’ imprisonment for the conspiracy offense, 15 years’ imprisonment for the bribery offense, 20 years’ imprisonment for the money laundering offense, and 10 years’ imprisonment for the theft offense, as well as the forfeiture of the proceeds of the illegal activity.    The U.S. Attorney’s Office said an indictment is merely an accusation, and Ware is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.