Federal Reports

The OIG investigated allegations that Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Facilities employees Simon Nunez, David Parrish, and Leland Martinez and San Felipe School employees Ruby Montoya and Nancy Nunez made personal purchases on their assigned Government charge cards.Parrish and Martinez admitted to purchasing personal items, including sheds, tankless water heaters, computers, and tools, with their Government purchase charge cards between August 2013 and December 2016. Simon Nunez, a BIE Facilities Manager, directed the purchases and kept some of the stolen property. Nunez purchased three computers, two of which she converted for personal use and one of which she gave to Montoya to be converted to personal use. Montoya authorized Nunez to purchase one computer, which Montoya converted to personal use.Simon Nunez pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico to nine counts of theft, conspiracy, and false statements. He was sentenced to 6 months in prison followed by 24 months of supervised release and was ordered to pay $6,664.52 in restitution, a $900 special assessment, and a $5,000 fine. Simon Nunez left Federal service on December 23, 2016.Parrish pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico to four counts of conspiracy and theft. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation and was ordered to pay $2,035.51 in restitution, a $400 special assessment, and a $2,500 fine. Parrish left Federal service on December 23, 2016.Martinez pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico to five counts of conspiracy and theft. He was sentenced to 24 months of probation and was ordered to pay $2,895 in restitution, a $500 special assessment, and a $500 fine. Martinez left Federal service on November 6, 2019.Montoya pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico to unlawful conversion of government property and was sentenced to 12 months of probation and was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. Montoya left Federal service on February 10, 2017.Nancy Nunez pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico to three counts of unlawful conversion of government property and was sentenced to 24 months of probation and was ordered to pay a fine of $8,879 and a special assessment of $300. Nancy Nunez left Federal service on April 14, 2017.

We investigated allegations that Lawrence Killsback, while serving as President of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe (NCT), submitted fraudulent travel claims. The funds used to pay the fraudulent claims came from federally funded NCT programs. Our investigation focused on Killsback’s regional travel in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a parallel investigation that focused on Killsback’s remaining domestic trips.Together, the parallel investigations found that Killsback stole over $20,000 from NCT programs by submitting multiple fraudulent travel vouchers between August 18, 2014, and August 25, 2017.This investigation was prosecuted jointly with the HHS OIG investigation. Killsback pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana to one count of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 and one count of false claims conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 286. On December 12, 2019, Killsback was sentenced to 6 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release. Killsback was also ordered to pay a $200 special assessment and $25,092 in restitution.

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 requires that each class of mail or type of mail service covers their direct and indirect costs. Over the past 10 years, several U.S. Postal Service market dominant products continuously failed to cover their attributable costs. Currently there are six market dominant products that are not covering their direct and indirect costs (underwater products). In fiscal year (FY) 2019, total loss from these underwater products was about $1.6 billion. Further, some market dominant mail products have had notable declines in cost coverage over the last 10 years. Unlike competitive products, market dominant product price increases are restricted to the Consumer Price Index, with a price cap applied to each mail class. Our objective was to evaluate opportunities to reduce mail product costs. This audit was initiated to review cost reduction initiatives specific to underwater products; however, the issues we identified impacted more than just underwater products.

Nurse staffing is a key contributor to the quality of care provided in nursing homes. This review, initiated before the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, focuses on staffing data from 2018. However, the 2020 pandemic reinforces the importance of adequate staffing for nursing homes, as inadequate staffing can make it more difficult for nursing homes to respond to infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19.

This is an audit of NEA's Information System contracts. Due to security concerns, this information is not published on the internet. You can obtain a copy of the memorandum through a freedom of information act request at the following link: https://www.arts.gov/freedom-information-act-guide.