U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that TONY RILEY, age 49, of Empire, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo to committing mail fraud in relation to the BP settlement fund for the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion.
According to court documents, RILEY submitted a claim for lost profits from his seafood business to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) and the Deepwater Horizon Economic Claims Center (DHECC). Initially, due to RILEY’S incomplete information, GCCF made a "Quick Pay" settlement offer of $25,000.00. RILEY did not accept that offer and subsequently submitted additional records that included false information to the GCCF and DHECC. In those records, RILEY inflated his income from his seafood business in 2009 in order to qualify for additional reimbursement from the settlement fund. In March 2013, due to the fraudulent information that RILEY submitted, the DHECC sent RILEY checks worth a total settlement of $221,681.62.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000.00 fine, and up to three years of supervised release. Sentencing is set for April 19, 2018 before Judge Milazzo.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Secret Service New Orleans Field Office. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Payne is in charge of prosecution.
--DOJ Eastern District of Louisiana