Mississippi Man Faces Sentencing in Oil Spill Fraud Case
A Mississippi man has pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges of lying about his past employment to get $25,800 in oil-spill recovery money.
The Sun Herald reports Shawn Albert Townsel will be sentenced March 26.
Prosecutors say Townsel received the money after claiming he lost work as a first-class painter/blaster with Northrop Grumman/Peyton Sandblasting & Painting in Pascagoula and in Bayou La Batre, Alabama.
Townsel also gave the Gulf Coast Claims Facility false documentation, including an income tax return and a letter from his alleged employer.
Court documents show Townsel made the fraudulent claims after the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill of April 2010, and received a check for his recovery money in the mail.
Townsel faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
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