Grant manager sentenced to over two years in prison for embezzling funds intended to serve Native Alaskans

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – An Orange, Virginia, man was sentenced today to two years and four months in prison for wire fraud relating to his scheme to misappropriate grant funds through fraudulent invoices.

According to court documents, from at least December 2021 to March 2024, Larry Todd Morgan, 57, was employed at a company, identified in court records as Company A, as President of Strategy and Innovation. Company A was an Alaska Native Corporation headquartered in Tongass, Alaska, with a contracting office in Manassas and later Chantilly.

Company A sought and, on July 26, 2022, received a $1.9 million National Telecommunications and Information Administration grant to bring high-speed broadband and related computer software, services, and devices to Alaska Natives living in the villages of Saxman and Ketchikan who were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Company A selected Morgan to administer and manage the NTIA Grant and only Morgan and one other employee had authority to make purchases using NTIA Grant funds.

Between Oct. 31, 2023, and Nov. 2, 2023, Morgan submitted four expense reports containing six fraudulent invoices purportedly for the purchase of large quantities of electronics and showing that he paid for the electronics using his own personal credit card. Based on the false expense reports and fraudulent invoices, on Nov. 9, 2023, Company A sent a reimbursement payment for $82,815.20 via interstate wire to Morgan's personal account.

Over time, Morgan increased the quantity of the electronics he purported to purchase. On Feb. 6, 2024, Morgan submitted an expense report with three fraudulent invoices. On Feb 15, 2024, Company A sent $198,756.48 via ACH transaction to Morgan's account. Every expense report and invoice Morgan submitted to Company A for reimbursement was false. In total, Morgan submitted at least eight falsified expense reports and at least 21 fraudulent invoices to Company A’s accounting personnel, falsely claiming to have purchased over 2,500 electronic items for the NTIA Tribal Broadband Connectivity Project such as monitors, keyboards, cell phones, tablets, and headsets. Morgan did not make any of the purchases he represented.

In total, Morgan misappropriated at least $828,152.99 from the NTIA Grant, representing 43% of the total grant received by Company A. He then used the fraud proceeds to purchase luxury vehicles and expensive farming equipment.

Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Sean Ryan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office's Criminal and Cyber Division; and Roderick Anderson, Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Commerce, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary H. Ray and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth R. Simon, Jr. prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:24-cr-247.