AEY had failed to perform on numerous previous contracts, including sending potentially unsafe helmets and failure to deliver 10,000 Beretta pistols to Iraq.

[16][17] During a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigation documents were produced to show that federal agencies terminated, withdrew, or canceled at least seven previous contracts with AEY for poor quality or late deliveries.

[19][20] 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 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".

[4] The story was published in Canadian journalist Guy Lawson's 2015 book Arms and the Dudes, and was produced into the 2016 film War Dogs by Todd Phillips.

[19] In 2016 Packouz's company, Singular Sound, started a philanthropic partnership with non-profit organization Guitars Over Guns to provide BeatBuddy equipment to disadvantaged youth.