Posted on 03/09/2021 12:35:56 PM PST by ransomnote
NEW ORLEANS, LA –U.S Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that on March 5, 2021 three pleaded guilty related to a test score-fixing scheme at a United States Coast Guard exam center, bringing the total number of defendants convicted in this matter to 19.
SHARRON ROBINSON, a former maritime industry worker, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. In a factual basis filed into the record, ROBINSON admitted that she acted as an intermediary between Coast Guard exam center employee Beverly McCrary and merchant mariners who were willing to pay for false passing exam scores. The exams tested mariners’ knowledge and training to safely operate under the authority of licenses, which were legally required to work various positions on vessels.
ROBINSON acknowledged that she would take money from mariners and then pay McCrary for the false scores. ROBINSON understood that McCrary would keep a portion of that money and use the rest to bribe another exam center employee to enter the scores. Sometimes ROBINSON put mariners directly in touch with McCrary to arrange their payments. ROBINSON admitted that, in addition to assisting nine other mariners in obtaining false scores, she also had her own scores fixed. All of these false scores resulted in the Coast Guard issuing unearned licenses.
On November 20, 2020, as alleged in the indictment, Coast Guard credentialing specialist Dorothy Smith entered the false scores in this scheme. The indictment further alleged that Smith accepted bribes and used a network of intermediaries. Smith and McCrary are scheduled to stand trial on June 28, 2021.
Previously, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the guilty pleas of 16 defendants which occurred on January 20, 27 and 28, 2021 for unlawfully receiving and possessing endorsements as part of the scheme. Since that announcement, on February 4, 2021 and March 4, 2021, respectively, two more defendants, ANTHONY GARCES and QUANG TRAN, have also plead guilty to that charge.
U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that the indictment’s allegations against Smith and McCrary are merely charges and their guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Honorable Barry W. Ashe presided over the guilty pleas and set sentencing dates of May 27, 2021 for GARCES and June 10, 2021 for ROBINSON and TRAN. The maximum penalty for each defendant is five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
This case is being investigated by the Coast Guard Investigative Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chandra Menon is in charge of the prosecution.
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How much to join the Space Force?
Or government is as corrupt as any third world country...................
More coming
SMITH, JOHNSON, MCCRARY, BELL, WOOTEN, ROBINSON, and WILLIAMS are charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The following defendants are charged with receiving, possessing, and intending to unlawfully use mariner licenses, to which they were not lawfully entitled: JONATHAN ABBEY, RAFAEL ATKINS, ANTHONY BROWN, JAMES CARR, CHARLES FRANKS, JERRY FUDGE, DAVID GALVAN, JUSTIN GANDY, ANTHONY GARCES, CARDELL HUGHES, HARRY JOHNSON, EDWARD JONES, ALEXIA LOVETT, BRANDON MACK, HUGO MARQUEZ, MILES MARTS, DEVERICK MORROW, FREDRICK NETTLES, STINSON PAYNE, OCTAVIAN RICHARDS, QUANG TRAN, ANTWAINE TRAVIS, SHUNMANIQUE WILLIS, and ROBERT WINTERS.
If convicted, each defendant faces a sentence of up to five years’ imprisonment, $ 250,000.00 fine, (3) three years of supervised release and a mandatory $100.00 special assessment.
How many crashes or near misses could be attributed to seamen who actually FAILED their test of the required knowledge? Positions such as this as well as firefighters, policeman, etc used to take the people with the top scores to enter the training. Then the requirement changed to “passing the test. Some test scores went from needing about a 97% score to be hired down to 70% to be hired as long as you were in the right category. When that did not even work the tests got easier. We are in big trouble here in the USA.
I guess if there was a Biden, they were dropped out.
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
NOWHERE in there does it say to ‘con a Marine’ into giving you a license to pilot said ship! ;)
Haven’t had a really juicy baseball bribery scandal in more than a century.
It’s not like the Army where they could drop grenade throwing as a requirement to graduate because new recruits could not throw far enough. - https://popularmilitary.com/us-army-general-says-new-recruits-not-strong-enough-throw-grenades/
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