Gulfport, Miss. - Brandy Ann Jarrell, 37, of Biloxi, pled guilty in U.S. District Court today to mail fraud in connection with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis announced.
Jarrell admitted carrying out a scheme to defraud the BP Gulf Coast Claims Facility by making false claims for damages. She claimed she lost earnings and profits from her employment as a deckhand on an oyster boat in a south Mississippi harbor as a result of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill when, in fact, she did not work on the oyster boat and did not lose earnings and profits. As a result of her false claim, Jarrell received an Emergency Advance Payment check in the amount of $28,800.00 in the mail from the BP Gulf Coast Claims Facility.
Jarrell will be sentenced on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. by U. S. District Judge Sul Ozerden, and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000.00 fine. This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
