Jeffrey Robert Cotton, Stealing Surplus Federal Property, Oregon 2023

Former Burns Municipal Airport Manager, Jeffrey Robert Cotton, was sentenced to 4 years' probation and 300 hours of community service for stealing thousands of dollars' worth of equipment from the City of Burns.

Cotton, 45, acquired numerous pieces of federal excess property, including a heater/air conditioner, commercial lighting sets, and various trucks and vans, tractors, and other heavy equipment, between 2014 and 2016.

However, Cotton failed to fully inform or notify the City of Burns, its mayor, city manager, or city council of the federal excess property obtained on its behalf. Instead, Cotton illegally converted much of the property to his personal use, either by titling property in his own name or transferring the property to Emergency Equipment Solutions, Inc. (EES), a nonprofit fully owned and operated by Cotton.

Records show thousands of dollars were transferred from EES to Cotton personally, and Cotton lied and misrepresented information regarding how he had obtained the property. Additionally, Cotton signed phony bills of sale falsely representing that EES had purchased the property.

Cotton pleaded guilty to two counts of theft from a local government receiving federal funds on April 11, 2019.

This case was investigated by the General Services Administration Office of Inspector General and the FBI, and was prosecuted by Gavin W. Bruce, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

The Federal Personal Property Utilization Program is intended to benefit state and local governments and eligible organizations by giving them property the federal government no longer needs at no cost.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/former-burns-municipal-airport-manager-sentenced-probation-stealing-surplus-federal