Virginia Man Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Participating in Scheme to Steal Fuel From U.S. Army in Iraq

WASHINGTON, March 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Michel Jamil, 60, was sentenced today to 40 months in prison for his participation in a scheme to steal approximately 10 million gallons of fuel from the U.S. Army in Iraq, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride.

Jamil, of Annandale, Va., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Claude M. Hilton in the Eastern District of Virginia.  He pleaded guilty on Aug. 11, 2009, to a one-count information charging him with conspiracy to steal government property.

In his guilty plea, Jamil admitted that in March 2007, he and two of his co-conspirators arranged for the creation of a false memorandum for record (MFR) authorizing individuals, purportedly on behalf of a company serving as a contractor to the U.S. government, to draw fuel from the Victory Bulk Fuel Point (VBFP), Camp Liberty, Iraq, which was owned and operated by the United States.  The VBFP supplies aviation and diesel fuel to both military units and U.S. government contractors operating in and around the Victory Base Complex.  Jamil admitted that he and his co-conspirators used this false MFR and others to steal large quantities of fuel from the U.S. Army for subsequent sale on the black market.  Jamil admitted that he escorted the trucks to retrieve fuel from the VBFP using a false MFR on approximately 10 to 15 occasions.  As a result of the scheme, Jamil received between $75,000 and $87,500 in personal profits.

In related cases, Robert Jeffery was convicted on Aug. 11, 2009, after a two-day jury trial of one count of conspiracy and one count of theft of government property for his role in the fuel theft.  Evidence at trial established that Jeffery served as an escort for the fuel trucks and illegally retrieved hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel from the VBFP.  On Dec. 11, 2009, Jeffery was sentenced to four years in prison.

Robert Young pleaded guilty on July 24, 2009, to participating in the same scheme.  In his plea, Young admitted that he and his co-conspirators employed several individuals to serve as drivers and escorts of the trucks containing the stolen fuel.  Young admitted that he received approximately $1 million in personal profits from the scheme.  On Nov. 6, 2009, Young was sentenced to 97 months in prison. 

Lee William Dubois pleaded guilty on Oct. 7, 2008, to participating in the same scheme.  In his plea, Dubois admitted that he obtained government-issued common access cards for the drivers and escorts of the trucks and also presented false documents to the VBFP authorizing his co-conspirators to draw fuel.  Dubois admitted that he received at least $450,000 in personal profits from the scheme.  On Aug. 25, 2009, Dubois was sentenced to three years in prison.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Linick, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section, and Fraud Section Trial Attorneys Andrew Gentin and Brigham Cannon.  The investigation of this case was conducted by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI, and members of the National Procurement Fraud Task Force and the International Contract Corruption Task Force (ICCTF). 

The National Procurement Fraud Task Force, created in October 2006 by the Department of Justice, was designed to promote the early detection, identification, prevention and prosecution of procurement fraud associated with the increase in government contracting activity for national security and other government programs.  The ICCTF is a joint law enforcement agency task force that seeks to detect, investigate and dismantle corruption and contract fraud resulting from U.S. Overseas Contingency Operations, including in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice