FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2003 WWW.USDOJ.GOV CRM (202) 514-2008 TDD (202) 514-1888 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff of the Criminal Division and Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn A. Fine announced today that Tonie D. Jones, 34, a former special agent with the San Antonio Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, pleaded guilty to making a false statement to federal investigators during the course of an internal investigation, a felony violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001.
The plea occurred this morning before the Honorable Edward C. Prado of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Jones was a Special Agent with the FBIs San Antonio, Texas Field Office from January 1996 through May 2002. In 2001, federal investigators from the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, and, subsequently, the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General, were investigating allegations that certain FBI special agents had surreptitiously audiotaped FBI management, in violation of agency protocols. In plea documents filed today, Jones admits that on three separate occasions between April and August 2001, he lied to FBI-OPR and DOJ-OIG investigators about his role in the audiotaping. Specifically, Jones categorically denied participating in the audiotaping twice to FBI-OPR and a third time to DOJ-OIG, when he was in fact aware that he and another special agent had surreptitiously recorded a conversation with FBI management.
Jones also admits that, when he interviewed for a position at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations in January 2002, he falsely stated that he had never been the subject of an internal investigation, when, in fact, Jones knew at the time that he had been the subject of an internal investigation by federal investigators.
The maximum penalty for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 is five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. The defendants sentencing is set for June 19, 2003.
The case is being prosecuted by trial attorney Matthew Solomon of the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, headed by Section Chief Noel L. Hillman, and investigated by the Office of Inspector General, Department of Justice, El Paso, Texas Field Office. 03-218
Source: US Department of Justice
