Press Releases
FORMER MMS OFFICIAL SENTENCED IN GIFT-TAKING SCANDAL
February 3, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DONALD C. HOWARD, former regional supervisor of the Gulf of Mexico region for the Minerals Management Service within the U.S. Department of the Interior was sentenced by U. S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey to 1 year probation, $3,000 fine, and 100 hours of community service for making false statements in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2). The Minerals Management Service is the federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior which regulates oil and gas operations on federal leases.
On November 5, 2008, HOWARD pled guilty to knowingly and willfully making a material false statement by representing in an Executive Branch Confidential Financial Disclosure Report for Fiscal Year 2004 that he had not received any gifts or travel from any one source in excess of two hundred and eighty-five dollars. This financial disclosure report provided the Executive Branch of the United States government with the mechanism to determine whether actual or potential conflicts of interest existed between DONALD C. HOWARD and the business activities he regulated. In fact, HOWARD received out-of-state travel valued in excess of two thousand dollars from a contractor which provided services within his area of supervision.
This matter was investigated by Special Agents of the Department of the Interior, Office of the Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Brian Marcelle and Richard R. Pickens, II.
