Business Man Enters Pleas in Grant Theft Case

Contact Person: T. DeWayne Pearson (803) 929-3000

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated that Brian Morin, age 47 of Greenville, SC, was sentenced in connection with theft of government funds in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641.  Morin was convicted in connection with the theft of grant funds administered to Morin’s former company, Innegrity LLC. According to facts presented during the guilty plea hearing, Morin was awarded a research grant from the National Science Foundation. As a grant condition, Morin was responsible for submitting grant reports certifying the hours that the company worked on grant related activities. An investigation revealed that the company’s internal records did not match the hours Morin certified to the National Science Foundation. Morin was sentenced to three years’ probation and a fine of $5,000.

National Science Foundation Inspector General Allison Lerner said, “This individual significantly inflated the amount of time and effort he and other company personnel spent on a Small Business Innovation Research Program award so that he could continue to fraudulently receive National Science Foundation funds intended to conduct innovative research.  The strong support of the U.S. Attorney’s office was instrumental in leading to today’s sentencing, which can serve as a deterrent to anyone who seeks to lie to obtain scarce research dollars”. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys T. DeWayne Pearson of the Columbia office and Jamie Lea Schoen of the Greenville office.

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