NEW ORLEANS – A former employee of the United States Coast Guard has been sentenced to prison for her role in a test-fixing scheme at a Coast Guard exam center in Louisiana.
Beverly McCrary, 64, was sentenced on December 8, 2022, to 54 months in prison for Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.
McCrary was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following her prison term and to pay a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
McCrary had been employed as a credentialing specialist at a Mandeville, Louisiana Coast Guard exam center known as REC (Regional Exam Center) New Orleans.
The examinations tested mariners’ knowledge and training to safely operate under the authority of the licenses that they were seeking.
According to the sentencing documents, McCrary and two other Coast Guard employees, Dorothy Smith and Eldridge Johnson, participated in a scheme to sell mariners false passing exam scores.
McCrary would gather mariners’ money and information about the desired licenses and then provide the information and a portion of the money to Smith. In some cases, McCrary would accept non-monetary things of value, such as a cooler of shrimp, in exchange for arranging false test scores.
The scheme was so widespread that McCrary caused more than 50 mariners to receive false passing scores, with some mariners obtaining false scores on multiple occasions. Each falsely-reported examination resulted in the issuance of an unearned license.
The wide range of fraudulently obtained licenses for which McCrary was responsible included the Master Unlimited Oceans endorsement, which authorizes the holder to serve as the captain of vessels of any tonnage in any waters, as well as licenses for other high-level positions such as Chief.
McCrary’s co-conspirators, including Alexis Bell, Micheal Wooten, and Sharron Robinson, were also sentenced in connection with the scheme. Bell was sentenced to 42 months in prison, while Wooten and Robinson each received 54 months in prison. Another intermediary, Alonzo Williams, received a 40-month sentence for his conspiracy conviction.
The case against McCrary and her co-conspirators highlights the need for increased oversight and accountability in the Coast Guard’s credentialing process.
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Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Category: Public Corruption|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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