Anthony Don Tran, Bribery of a Public Official, California 2015

A former U.S. Army specialist has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a fuel bribe scheme while deployed in Afghanistan.

Anthony Don Tran, 28, of Stockton, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth L. Freeman on June 9, 2015 for accepting a $20,000 bribe from a truck driver in exchange for allowing him to take thousands of gallons of fuel from Forward Operating Base (FOB) Gardez.

Tran pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official and was ordered to pay $69,000 in restitution and to forfeit a vehicle that he purchased with bribe proceeds as well as $11,437.

In connection with his guilty plea, Tran admitted that he permitted a local Afghan fuel truck driver to depart FOB Gardez without downloading roughly 12,000 gallons of fuel purchased by the U.S. government and designated for the base in exchange for the bribe.

Tran also admitted to accepting at least $1,000 in cash from another member of his unit, former U.S. Sergeant Seneca Darnell Hampton, 31, of Columbus, Georgia, in exchange for Tran’s agreement not to report Hampton or former U.S. Sergeant First Class James Edward Norris, 33, of Fort Irwin, California, for also taking cash bribes in exchange for fuel.

Hampton was sentenced to 24 months in prison, and Norris was sentenced to 51 months in prison. Both Hampton and Norris were ordered to pay restitution and to forfeit vehicles purchased with bribe proceeds.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Defense Contract Audit Agency’s Investigative Support Division.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys John Keller and Sean Mulryne of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices of the Northern District of California and Middle District of Georgia.

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