A U.S. Navy Reserve commander from Florida, Jeromy Pittmann, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for his involvement in a bribery scheme related to Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) for Afghan nationals, as announced today by the Justice Department (DOJ).
Pittmann, a 53-year-old resident of Pensacola, faced a conviction by a jury in the District of New Hampshire on July 12 for various charges, including conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, making a materially false writing, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to a statement from Greg Gross, the Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Economic Crimes Field Office, the participation of Pittmann in the bribery scheme not only put the integrity of the SIV program at risk, but also posed significant security threats to the nation.
“Ensuring the safety of the public and our warfighters, NCIS and our partners remain committed to holding accountable individuals who exploit government processes for personal gain,” stated the spokesperson.
Pittmann allegedly received bribes from Afghan nationals in return for creating and validating fake letters of recommendation for SIV applicants aiming to seek refuge in the United States, as per court records.
According to court records, it has been revealed that Pittmann has signed more than 20 letters. These letters falsely claim that he personally knew the visa applicants, supervised their work as translators for the U.S. military and NATO, and could vouch for their loyalty and lack of security risk to the United States.
Court documents confirm that Pittmann had no connection to the applicants and that his recommendations were solely motivated by financial gain.
According to court filings, Pittmann was found to have received thousands of dollars in bribes for these forged letters.
To hide his actions, the individual funneled the bribe payments through a middleman and fabricated invoices to make it seem like the payments were for valid services unrelated to the bribery, as stated by the DOJ.
