Tampa, Florida - United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that Jason Anthony Martinez (38, Tampa) has pleaded guilty to making false statements to the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Financial Litigation Unit. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.
According to the plea agreement, Martinez was previously convicted in a mortgage-related fraud case and ordered to pay $3,008,551.01 in restitution. On Oct. 24, 2017, Martinez signed and submitted a Financial Disclosure Form, upon which he falsely claimed a net income that was approximately half his actual net income and failed to disclose a number of credit accounts. This false information materially and adversely affected the resulting restitution-related payment calculations in his prior case.
U.S. Attorney Chapa Lopez stated, “Pursuant to the Crime Victims' Rights Act of 2004, federal crime victims have the right to full and timely restitution. Our Financial Litigation Unit is dedicated to investigating defendants’ ability to meet their restitution obligation and collecting such restitution in compliance with federal law. Criminal defendants must understand that the United States Attorney’s Office actively pursues the collection of restitution."
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, recognizing the critical importance of recovering restitution for victims, has a Financial Litigation Unit that collects criminal monetary penalties, including restitution, imposed on criminal defendants by the U.S. District Court as part of his or her sentence. One of the tools used by the Unit to collect restitution is the Financial Disclosure Statement, which requires defendants to truthfully disclose, among other things, their income, expenses, assets, and liabilities.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Economic Crimes Section. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas N. Palermo.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
