Press Releases
FORMER MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE SUPERVISOR PLEADS GUILTY IN FEDERAL COURT
November 5, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DONALD C. HOWARD, age 58, a resident of Destrahan, former regional supervisor of the Gulf of Mexico region for the Minerals Management Service within the U. S. Department of the Interior, pled guilty today before U. S. District Judge Jay Zainey to charges of making false statements, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
According to court documents, HOWARD admitted to making a material false statement by representing in an Executive Branch Confidential Financial Disclosure Report for Fiscal Year 2004 that he had not received any gifts or travel from any one source in excess of $285. This financial disclosure report provided the Executive Branch of the United States Government with the mechanism to determine whether actual or potential conflicts of interest existed between DONALD C. HOWARD and the business activities he regulated. HOWARD received out-of-state travel valued in excess of $2,000 from a contractor which provided services within HOWARD’S area of supervision.
HOWARD faces a maximum sentence of five (5) years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.00. Sentencing has been scheduled for February 3, 2009.
This matter was investigated by Special Agents of the Department of the Interior, Office of the Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Brian Marcelle and Richard R. Pickens, II.
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