James O’Brien, Falsifying Government Documents, Virginia 2024

A former CEO of two US government contractors has pleaded guilty to falsifying documents in an effort to increase his companies’ competitiveness, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Criminal Division and Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John F. Sopko.

James O’Brien, 46 of Fredericksburg, Virginia, pleaded guilty to four counts of making false statements before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sean P. Flynn of the Middle District of Florida. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

As part of his guilty plea, O’Brien admitted that from 2013 to 2015 he was CEO of Tamerlane Global Services (Tamerlane) and Artemis Global (Artemis), both of Fairfax County, Virginia. During this time period, Tamerlane and Artemis worked on a logistics contract issued by the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) that supported the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan.

Tamerlane and Artemis employees, including O’Brien, deployed to Afghanistan as part of the contract. Contractors deployed to Afghanistan must have with them letters of authorization (LOAs) issued by the government agency responsible for the deployment. The LOAs serve as the contractors’ authorization to be deployed to Afghanistan, and set forth the U.S. government-provided benefits, such as military air travel, that the contractors may utilize at no cost while deployed.

O’Brien admittedly altered the un-provisioned LOAs, including his own, that TRANSCOM issued to deploying Tamerlane and Artemis employees to make the LOAs appear as if they were provisioned. He gave the LOAs that he altered to his deploying employees, who used them to utilize government-provided benefits in Afghanistan at no cost, O’Brien admitted.

This case was investigated by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Michael P. McCarthy of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

O’Brien will face sentencing for his crimes. The exact date has not been scheduled. As part of his guilty plea, O’Brien admitted to falsifying documents to increase his companies’ competitiveness.

This is a breaking development in a case that has raised questions about the use of government benefits by contractors in Afghanistan. We will continue to follow this story and provide updates as more information becomes available.