Former Army Reservist Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Theft of Government Funds

NEW ORLEANS –  U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced today that former United States Army reservist CHRISTOPHER O’CONNOR  pled guilty to conspiracy to commit theft of government funds. O’CONNOR stole $18,825.83 from the United States Department of the Army by claiming reimbursement for the performance of military funeral honors  ceremonies that never occurred.  Through his former position as an Army pay technician, O’CONNOR submitted a total of $101,858.19 in fraudulent military funeral honors payment requests for himself and others. 

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2000 authorizes military funeral honors (MFH) for active-duty soldiers, retirees, and veterans.  At a family’s request, eligible persons can receive military funeral honors, including the folding and presenting of the United States flag and the playing of “Taps.”

According to court documents, starting in or about January 2013, and continuing until in or about August 2016, O’CONNOR, and co-conspirators conspired to obtain money from the United States under false pretenses by submitting false applications for MFH payment requests  for services that had not been performed, to the Department of the Army.  O’CONNOR proposed submitting false MFH pay requests in the co-conspirators’  names in exchange for each sharing their proceeds with O’CONNOR.  In addition to receiving a split of the fraudulent MFH payments from the co-conspirators, O’CONNOR also submitted and received approximately $18,825.83 in fraudulent MFH payment requests for himself.  As a result of this conspiracy, the United States government was defrauded out of approximately $101,858.19.

O’CONNOR faces a maximum penalty of five (5) years imprisonment, followed by up to three (3) years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000.00, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.