Ex-Army Sergeant Gets Probation for Fraud
PHOTO CAPTION: Soldiers with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, fold the American flag during military funeral honors at Arlington National Cemetery in January 2022. The ceremony pictured is unrelated to the fraud case. (Elizabeth Fraser/Arlington National Cemetery)
A former Army Reserve staff sergeant who helped submit fraudulent pay claims for military funeral honors ceremonies that never happened has been sentenced to five years of probation.
Christopher O’Connor, a former Army pay technician, was sentenced Sept. 3 in federal court in New Orleans to five years of probation, 100 hours of community service and $98,691 in restitution, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
O’Connor previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy for submitting false reimbursement requests for military funeral honors that he and six other Army reservists claimed to have performed between 2013 and 2016.
Military funeral honors are provided to eligible veterans and service members at the request of their families. The ceremonies can include the folding and presentation of the American flag and the playing of Taps.
According to prosecutors, O’Connor proposed submitting false reimbursement requests for six other reservists in exchange for a portion of the money they received.
The overall scheme resulted in nearly $101,900 in Army funds being improperly paid out, according to Stars and Stripes, citing court records and the original indictment. O’Connor's own fraudulent pay requests totaled more than $18,800.
The seven soldiers involved all served with the 377th Theater Sustainment Command and were stationed at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans.
Prosecutors said the reimbursement requests were submitted without required supervisor approval, without signed documentation showing which soldiers had performed at particular funerals and without records showing that the claimed ceremonies had actually taken place.
The case eventually led to an Army investigation. O’Connor was demoted from staff sergeant to private before being discharged from the Army Reserve in April 2019 under other than honorable conditions, according to court records cited by Stars and Stripes.
The other reservists charged in the case received varying combinations of probation, community service and restitution after several pleaded guilty.
Former Staff Sgt. Lynea Sanders, for example, received three years of probation, 150 hours of community service and was ordered to repay roughly $21,800. Former Sgt. Derrick Branch received two years of probation, 50 hours of community service and restitution.
Charges against another former reservist were dismissed earlier this year after a court found him mentally incompetent to stand trial.
O’Connor had already repaid nearly $16,400 by the time he was sentenced, according to court records.
The sentence means O’Connor will serve no prison time for his role in a scheme centered on reimbursement claims for military funeral honors that prosecutors say were never actually performed.
Sources: U.S. Department of Justice; Stars and Stripes
(Source: OAF Nation)
