Former Goodwill Industries Official Sentenced to Federal Prison for Theft Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – This morning, Francis Louis Carrillo, 49, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced to 12 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction for stealing money from a program receiving federal funds.  Carrillo also was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $56,417.82.  Carrillo’s sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales, and Phyllis Grissom-Robinson, Special Agent in Charge of Region 6 of the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and William R. Jones, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Regional Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

Carrillo was indicted in May 2012, and charged with theft of government property and theft concerning programs receiving federal funds.  The six-count indictment charged Carrillo with embezzling thousands of dollars in federal funds provided through grant programs administered by HUD and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).  At the time of the offenses charged, Carrillo was employed as the Deputy Director of Community Programs at Goodwill Industries of New Mexico (Goodwill).

HUD funds the Supportive Housing Program (SHP) which provides affordable housing for low-income Americans and DOL funds the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) which provides vocational training for older Americans.  Although funded by HUD and DOL, the SHP and SCSEP are administered at the local level by community organizations and not-for-profit corporations.  Goodwill, a not-for-profit corporation that provides skill development and vocational training opportunities to community members facing barriers to employment, received more than $80,000 per year in 2008, 2009 and 2010 through the SHP and SCSEP programs.  Goodwill was permitted to use these federal funds to provide short-term emergency rental assistance to local residents facing eviction and homelessness as the result of sudden job loss or other economic setback.  According to the indictment, between 2008 and 2010, Carrillo engaged in a scheme to steal funds from Goodwill, including funds received through the SHP and SCSEP programs, by issuing false and fraudulent checks for short-term rental assistance. 

In Oct. 2012, Carrillo entered a guilty plea to Count 6 of the indictment, charging him with theft concerning programs receiving federal funds.  According to the plea agreement, Carrillo was employed by Goodwill from 2004 to 2010, where he initially held the title of Program Manager and later was promoted to Deputy Director of Community Programs.  Carrillo’s responsibilities included administering programs that received federal funds and approving applications by low-income clients for emergency rental assistance. 

In entering his guilty plea, Carrillo admitted abusing his position at Goodwill by engaging in a scheme to approve and issue checks for false applications for emergency rental assistance.  Upon issuance of the checks, Carrillo would have the payees either cash the checks and provide him with the funds, or endorse the checks so that Carrillo could cash them himself.  Carrillo also admitted that, between 2006 and 2010, he caused approximately 130 checks to be issued by Goodwill under false pretenses and fraudulently converted the proceeds of those checks to his own use.  During the course of his illegal scheme, Carrillo embezzled approximately $80,000 from Goodwill.

As required by the terms of Carrillo’s plea agreement, the United States will move to dismiss Counts 1 through 5 of the indictment.

The case was investigated by HUD’s Office of Inspector General and DOL’s Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson.