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Former Federal Employee Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison After Pleading Guilty To Defrauding U.S. Government For More Than $1 Million
DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that James Montoya, 55, of Lakewood, Colorado, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,122,009.47 after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud.
According to the plea agreement, Montoya worked as a federal employee at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) office in Lakewood. USGS is part of the United States Department of the Interior (DOI). During a routine initiative to identify misuse, DOI identified numerous questionable transactions on Montoya’s government charge card. An investigation revealed that Montoya successfully concealed improper purchases for years by submitting altered receipts, and fictitious invoices and other documentation to USGS claiming that these purchases were for IT-related items or services. In fact, the defendant did not provide any IT-related items or services to USGS and many of these purchases were for personal items including, but not limited to, vintage and collectible toys as well as car parts.
The alleged actions defrauded the government of approximately $1,122,009.47 over approximately fifteen years beginning around December of 2008 and continuing through at least November 2023.
“Stealing from the federal government is stealing from hard-working American taxpayers,” said United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly. “Our office will vigorously prosecute these types of crimes on behalf of American taxpayers.”
“Our investigative staff used data analytics and ingenuity to identify this longstanding, ongoing scheme, which defrauded American taxpayers out of over $1 million over many years,” said U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Katherine Balestra. “The judgment in this case is a strong deterrent for others looking to perpetuate this type of scheme."
United States District Judge Philip A. Brimmer presided over the sentencing.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sonia Dave.
Case Number: 24-cr-248-PAB
Former National Park Service Employee Sentenced, Ordered to Repay $249,000 Stolen from Camping, Cave Fees
CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Monday sentenced a former employee of the National Park Service to five years of probation and ordered her to repay $249,000 in campsite and tour fees that she stole from 2019 to 2023.
Lisa Figge was a supervisory visitor use assistant at the Ozark National Scenic Riverways at the time. Figge’s job duties included collecting fees for guided tours of Round Spring Cave and collecting cash in envelopes placed in metal drop boxes at campsites known as “Iron Rangers.” From 2019-2023, Figge stole some of the cash and deposited it into her own account.
On Aug. 28, 2023, Figge was caught on video counting cash and stealing $1,200. Figge was then spotted stopping at her own bank before traveling to the bank that the Park Service used. In an interview with investigators later that day, Figge admitted stealing money from the cave tour program and the fee collection program, including directly from Iron Rangers. Figge said she altered records and created a false deposit report to hide her crime. Figge told investigators that she did not keep records of how much money she had stolen, but the parties agreed that the amount of provable loss to the Park Service exceeded $200,000.
Figge has already repaid $100,000 of the money.
Figge, 45, pleaded guilty in September in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count of theft of government property.
"The extent of this theft from the National Park Service is alarming," said Katie Balestra, Special Agent in Charge for the Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General (DOI-OIG). "We are committed to identifying and investigating this type of unlawful behavior that erodes the public’s trust.”
The DOI-OIG investigated the case with the assistance of the National Park Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hahn is prosecuting the case.