DOJ: Former Federal Contractors Plead Guilty to Federal Contract Fraud Conspiracy

Boy, oh boy, does this sound like Michigan child welfare placing agencies.

I remember when Catholic Charities was called Catholic Social Services, right before they were shut down on paper and had to change their name.

But, then again, the same thing happens with the U.S. Department of Defense.

George Patton and Henry Patton both pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to defraud the United States, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin for the Middle District of North Carolina. George Patton also pleaded guilty to evading payment of his individual income taxes.

According to documents filed with the court, George Patton owned businesses that were registered to do business with the federal government, but he was eventually debarred from conducting such business. During this time, George Patton, his wife, Lindsey Patton, and his brother, Henry Patton then conspired to form new contracting businesses for which Lindsey Patton and Henry Patton acted as nominee owners, but which George Patton controlled.  Under this arrangement, the conspirators obtained federal contracts totaling over $10 million.  In order to conceal the income that he earned from the businesses, George Patton instructed his co-conspirators first to deposit funds from the businesses into bank accounts in their names and then transfer the funds to him.  George Patton further concealed his income by directing his co-conspirators to deposit the funds in amounts less than $10,000 to evade currency-reporting requirements.

George Patton and Lindsey Patton filed income tax returns for the 2006 through 2008 and 2013 tax years, which reported approximately $61,000 in taxes, which they have evaded paying.  The total tax loss associated with their conduct, including penalties and interest, is over $107,000.

Lindsey Patton pleaded guilty on November 9, 2018 to conspiring to defraud the United States and to evading payment of her individual income taxes.

Sentencing for George Patton and Henry Patton is scheduled for March 18, 2019.  Sentencing for Lindsey Patton is scheduled for February 27, 2019. George Patton and Lindsey Patton each face a maximum sentence of eight years in prison, as well as a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.  Henry Patton faces a maximum of five years in prison, a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Martin commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, who investigated the case, and United States Assistant Attorney Anand Ramaswamy and Trial Attorney Alexander Effendi of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting this case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.

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DOJ & and Department of Interior Team Up for Major Expansion of Tribal Access to National Crime Information Databases

It is about time DOJ do something about child trafficking and missing Native women.

Now, it is time to go after the fraud in ICWA, money laundering and campaign finance. 

Department of Justice Expands Tribal Access Program to Additional 25 Tribes This Year, Department of Interior Funds the Expansion of DOJ Tribal Access Program at 31 BIA Social Services and Law Enforcement Locations by 2020

The Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior announced a dramatic expansion of the federal government’s key program that provides tribes with access to national crime information databases, the Justice Department’s Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP). 

By the end of 2019, the Justice Department will expand the number of TAP participating tribes by more than 50 percent—from 47 tribes to 72.  The Department of the Interior (DOI) will fund the instillation of TAP Kiosks at three locations where the BIA-Office of Indian Services (BIA-OIS) deliver direct service social services by the end of 2019 and DOI aims to expand TAP access at all 28 BIA-Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS) operated law enforcement agencies and detention service centers.  These BIA locations will provide some degree of access to TAP for services delivered to more than 50 tribal communities that currently do not have any direct access. 

“For far too long, a lack of access to federal criminal databases has hurt tribal law enforcement—preventing them from doing their jobs and keeping their communities safe,” said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.  “With the Tribal Access Program, participating tribes will be able to protect victims of domestic violence, register sex offenders, keep guns out of dangerous hands, and help locate missing people.  This milestone demonstrates our deep commitment to strengthening public safety in Indian country.”

“I am proud to authorize the funding for the expansion of the Tribal Access Program to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to make the future of justice in Indian Country stronger,” said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney at the 75thNational Congress of American Indians Convention today. “The Bureau of Indian Affairs is proud to grant greater access to these important databases at more locations throughout Indian Country. Performing background checks is a critical step in protecting our precious Native children in foster care, and tribal communities served by the BIA will benefit from access to this extensive public safety tool.”

“Access to information is vital to effective law enforcement,” said Trent Shores, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma and the Chairman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Subcommittee on Native American Issues.  “The Tribal Access Program will enhance and improve the ability of tribal law enforcement officers to serve their communities. The Native American Issues Subcommittee is proud to support the continued expansion of this tool throughout Indian Country.

The Native American Issues Subcommittee (NAIS) is comprised of United States Attorneys with Indian Country in their federal districts. They advise the Attorney General regarding the development and implementation of policies pertaining to justice in Indian Country. The NAIS identified ‘increased law enforcement resources’ as one of four priority areas to improve justice services in Indian Country. Support for and increased dissemination of the TAP was unanimously supported by the US Attorneys at a recent NAIS meeting in Indian Country in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“We at the BIA-OJS look forward to having direct access to these vital resources,” said Deputy BIA Director for Office of Justice Services Charles Addington. “We have waited years for the opportunity to streamline how we access these critical databases and the funding authorized by AS-IA Sweeney will allow  our law enforcement officers the ability to receive the information they need to do their jobs effectively and keep them safe.”

TAP, offered in two versions, TAP-FULL and TAP-LIGHT, allows tribes to more effectively serve and protect their communities by fostering the exchange of critical data through several national databases through the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) network, including the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), Next Generation Identification (NGI), National Data Exchange (N-DEx), National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal (LEEP) as well as other national systems such as the International Justice and Public Safety Network (Nlets).   TAP enhances tribal efforts to register sex offenders pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA); have orders of protection enforced nationwide; protect children; keep firearms away from persons who are disqualified from receiving them; improve the safety of public housing, and allow tribes to enter their arrests and convictions into national databases.

TAP-FULL consists of a kiosk workstation that provide access to national systems and is capable of processing finger and palm prints, as well as taking mugshots and submitting records to national databases. TAP-LIGHT is software for criminal agencies that include police departments, prosecutors, criminal courts, jails, and probation departments. Both versions provide federally recognized tribes the ability to access and exchange data with national crime information databases for both civil and criminal purpose.  TAP is currently available to 47 tribes nationwide with over 220 tribal criminal justice and civil agencies participating.

For more information on TAP, including a list and map of present TAP-FULL and TAP-LIGHT tribes, visit www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap

For more information about the Justice Department’s work on tribal justice and public safety issues, visit:  www.justice.gov/tribal

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