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Former U.S. Soldier Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Military Recruiting Fraud Scheme
By Grimy Times Staff, April 21, 2024
A former U.S. soldier has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in a fraudulent military recruiting referral bonus scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.
U.S. Army Specialist Richard Garcia, 29, of Kirby, Texas, was sentenced on July 26, 2012, by Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery in the Western District of Texas. In addition to his prison term, Judge Biery sentenced Garcia to serve three years of supervised release and ordered Garcia to pay $244,000 in restitution, jointly and severally with co-conspirators.
Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on July 26, 2012. According to court documents, Garcia enlisted in the U.S. Army in approximately November 2005.
The U.S. Army, the U.S. Army Reserves and the National Guard Bureau entered into contracts with Document and Packaging Broker Inc. (Docupak) to administer recruiting bonus programs designed to offer monetary incentives to soldiers who referred others to join the U.S. military. Through these recruiting programs, a participating soldier could receive up to $2,000 in bonus payments for every person he referred to serve in the U.S. military.
Garcia admitted that he participated in a fraud scheme whereby active duty and civilian contract recruiters provided RAs and sponsors with the names and Social Security numbers of ?walk-in? soldiers ? or persons who decided to join the military without being referred by anyone. Using this information, the RAs and sponsors claimed credit for referring these potential soldiers to join the military, when in fact they did not refer them.
According to court documents, Garcia and his co-conspirators received at least $244,000 in fraudulent recruiting referral bonuses in total. Garcia and a co-conspirator personally received a total of approximately $13,000 in fraudulent recruiting referral bonuses by using Garcia?s RA account to claim that Garcia was responsible for referring certain potential soldiers to the U.S. Army, when in fact he had not referred those soldiers.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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