An Empire, Louisiana, man has pleaded guilty to defrauding the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion settlement compensation fund, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced.
U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans said Tony Riley, age 49, pleaded guilty to mail fraud charges before U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo.
According to court documents, Riley submitted a claim for lost profits from his seafood business to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) and the Deepwater Horizon Economic Claims Center (DHECC).
Initially, due to Riley’s incomplete information, GCCF made a “Quick Pay” settlement offer of $25,000. Riley rejected the offer and subsequently submitted additional records that included false information to the GCCF and DHECC.
The records inflated Riley’s income from his seafood business in 2009 in order to qualify for additional reimbursement from the settlement fund. In March 2013, due to the fraudulent information that Riley submitted, the DHECC sent Riley checks worth a total settlement of $221,681.62.
He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release. Sentencing is set for April 19, 2018, before Judge Milazzo.
Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Payne is in charge of prosecution.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana
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