Two Men Charged in Wire Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General  announced today that James I. Matison, 57, of Boulder, CO, and Jeffrey Ham, 46, of El Prado, NM, made initial appearances in federal court on a indictment charging them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

According to court documents, from February 2015 through April 2019, Matison and Ham conspired to inflate hours billed to Matison’s employer, WildEarth Guardians, by using the company Ham owned, Timberline Environmental, LLC. All told, Matison and Ham diverted more than $250,000 from WildEarth Guardians.

“The Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General is committed to providing strong oversight for grants and contracts,” said Special Agent in Charge Garrett J. Westfall of the EPA OIG’s Western Division.  “With our law enforcement partners, we will hold recipients accountable for ensuring that they use taxpayer funds for their intended purposes in accordance with federal regulations.”

“The Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General is committed to working with our law enforcement partners in protecting the integrity of taxpayer funds and aggressively investigating allegations of theft within DOI and other federal programs,” said Jamie DePaepe, Special Agent in Charge, Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General’s Western Region.

A complaint is only an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Matison and Ham both face 20 years in prison.

Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General investigated this case with assistance from Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy Peña is prosecuting the case.

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