Ex-DoD Employee Roy Friend Sentenced for $2.3M GSA Fraud

Newport News, Va. – Roy E. Friend, 52, a former civilian employee of the Department of Defense (DOD), was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for stealing government property.

Friend, who worked as the Chief of Logistics and Program Management at Fort Eustis, pleaded guilty on March 24 to fraudulently obtaining goods through the General Services Administration (GSA) Advantage website. He confessed to making approximately 666 orders totaling $2.3 million from Aug. 19, 2010, to mid-2015.

The GSA Advantage system is an e-commerce site that facilitates government purchasing and research by federal employees and local entities. Friend exploited this for personal gain, with many items used for resale or private profit. He also defrauded Fort Lee of $228,685.55 worth of equipment through the U.S. Falcon contract, totaling around $905,035.82 in fraudulent goods.

In addition to his prison sentence, Friend must serve three years of supervised release and pay restitution of $715,829.40, along with criminal forfeiture. He has already forfeited property valued at $189,206.42.

The investigation was conducted by the GSA – Office of Inspector General (GSA – OIG), the DOD – Office of Inspector General (DOD – OIG), and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian J. Samuels prosecuted the case, which was announced after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr.

For more information, visit the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia or search Case No. 4:16-cr-24 on PACER.