Vendor Sentenced After Illegally Bidding on Government Contracts

The OIG investigated allegations that contractor George Patton, after being debarred from Government contracting by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), created several companies through family members and another associate and improperly obtained U.S. Government contracts from 2013 to 2015. We found that Patton was debarred from Government contracting via a voluntary exclusion agreement with the DOI during this time frame.We found that George Patton’s brother, Henry Patton; his ex-wife, Lindsey Patton; and others created four companies after George Patton’s debarment to allow him to continue bidding on and managing Government contracts, in violation of his exclusion agreement. While Patton was debarred, the four companies obtained multiple Government contracts valued at over $5 million combined. We found that George Patton received the majority of the proceeds and that the partners only participated nominally in their respective companies. During our investigation, we also uncovered evidence that George Patton and Lindsey Patton failed to report income from the companies to the Federal Government via individual tax returns.In October 2018, George Patton pleaded guilty in the Middle District of North Carolina to one count of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, and one count of tax evasion. He was later sentenced to 10 months of confinement, 36 months of supervised release, and a $300 assessment. In October 2018, Henry Patton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and was later sentenced to 36 months of probation and a $100 assessment. In November 2018, Lindsey Patton pleaded guilty to tax evasion and was later sentenced to 36 months of probation and a $100 assessment. George and Lindsey Patton were also ordered to jointly pay restitution in the amount of $107,625.75.