Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. sentenced Robert Caleb McCray, age 44, of Silver Spring, Maryland, yesterday to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, in connection with a scheme to steal $958,280.64 from the United States. Judge Williams also ordered McCray to pay restitution of $958,280.64 and to forfeit two vehicles purchased with the proceeds of the scheme.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Aaron Collins, of the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General; and the National Archives and Records Administration Office of Inspector General.

According to McCray’s plea agreement, he was a manager at a company which had a government contract to provide facility management at the National Archives and Records Administration’s (the Archives) Facilities and Personal Property Management Branch located at the Archives II facility in College Park, Maryland. He supervised the Archives II loading dock. McCray’s co-conspirator, James Clay Whitson, was a property management specialist for the Archives at the same facility. Whitson was issued a “government purchase card” by the Archives and as part of his duties, had the authority to use his government purchase card to obtain goods and services from vendors for the Archives.

According to the plea agreement, from July 2002 to September 2006, Whitson used his Archives government purchase card to pay three purported businesses operated by McCray for goods and services that these entities never provided or provided at inflated prices. McCray’s businesses did not have any offices or employees. Their addresses were listed as McCray’s residences or a post office box rented by him. For example, Whitson used his government purchase card to pay a McCray business $50,000 for allegedly cleaning fabric panels in the Archives II facility, when in fact a company performed the work for about $1,627, which McCray paid. Whitson also used his government purchase card to pay another McCray business $14,500 for allegedly constructing systems furniture in the Archives II facility, when in fact two employees of McCray’s employer and another individual performed this work for about $900, which the defendants paid. McCray and Whitson caused the Archives to deposit the payments into the sham businesses’ accounts, and the two shared the proceeds. As a result of the scheme, the total loss to the Archives is $958,280.64. McCray used some of the money to buy two vehicles.

Whitson, age 45, of Notthingham, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme. No sentencing date has been scheduled.

The National Procurement Fraud Task Force was formed in October 2006 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 Procurement Fraud Task Force - chaired by Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer - includes the United States Attorneys’ Offices, the FBI, the U.S. Inspectors General community and a number of other federal law enforcement agencies. This case, as well as other cases brought by members of the Task Force, demonstrate the Department of Justice’s commitment to helping ensure the integrity of the government procurement process.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the National Archives and Records Administration Office of Inspector General and the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General for their work on this investigation and commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan E. Foreman, who is prosecuting the case.