Former Army Corps Employee Charged with Lying to Law Enforcement. (USDOJ press release)

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Florida
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 31, 2019
Former Army Corps Employee Charged with Lying to Law Enforcement

A former employee of the United States Army Corps of Engineers was charged with making false, material statements to law enforcement agents.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Colonel Andrew D. Kelly, Jr., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, John F. Khin, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Miami Field Office, Casey Oravetz, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Andres Castro, Special Agent in Charge, Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigations Division, Atlanta Area Office, and Frank Robey, Director, U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command, made the announcement.

Tracey Jordan Sellers, 49, of Duval County, was charged by information with count of making a false official statement, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2). If convicted, Sellers faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison.

According to the allegations in the information, the defendant was a civilian employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Federal ethics laws and regulations prohibit federal employees from engaging in outside employment that conflicts with employees’ official duties. The information alleges that, during an interview with federal law enforcement agents, Sellers made material false statements about her performance of part-time work outside the scope of her official responsibilities for a consulting company which has ongoing business with the Army Corps. Sellers no longer works for the Army Corps.

Ms. Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of the Defense Criminal Investigative Services, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Enforcement Division, and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command and the cooperation of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jaime Raich.

An information is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.