(Tribune News Service) — An enlisted Army reservist has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $53,000 from the Department of Defense.
Jared Romine Barton, a 39-year-old Nauvoo man, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Annemarie Carney Axon to one count of theft of government funds, according to a joint announcement Wednesday by Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Department of Army Criminal Investigation Division, Redstone Resident Unit, Supervisory Special Agent Chase Wilkerson.
According to the plea agreement, between 2016 and 2020, while both an active Army reservist and Army civilian employee at the Army Reserve’s Deployment Support Command in Birmingham, Sgt. 1st Class Barton submitted false travel claims and associated timecards to be reimbursed for official travel he did not undertake.
“The defendant defrauded the Department of Defense while wearing the uniform of the country,” Escalona said.
“My office is committed to investigating and prosecuting white-collar crime in all its forms, but it is particularly insidious that a member of the United States Armed Forces would steal from the government he was sworn to defend,” she said.
Barton faces a maximum of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
The Department of the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division investigated the case with assistance from the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan “Jack” Harrington prosecuted the case.
A sentencing date has not been announced.
“The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is committed to ensuring that these types of schemes are investigated aggressively,” Wilkerson said. “It is imperative that we continue to pursue economic fraud in every form to protect our military.”
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(Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
