Land Management official sentenced in workplace fraud case

Land Management official sentenced in workplace fraud case

Posted: Tuesday, July 7, 2015 9:23 pm
Associated Press |

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A senior official in the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has received six months in prison for covering up for a subordinate who kept drawing government pay after leaving the agency for a job in Montana.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris sentenced John Grimson Lyon, the former director for the BLM's 31-state Eastern States Region, during a Tuesday hearing in Great Falls, Montana. The 61-year-old Clifton, Virginia, man was convicted by a jury in March of wire fraud, false claims and theft of government property.

An investigation revealed that Lyon's deputy, Larry Denny, left his government post in Virginia to work for Montana's Chippewa Cree tribe but continued to receive $112,000 in wages and benefits.

Denny pleaded guilty to theft, fraud and other charges. His sentencing was postponed on Tuesday until July 29.

http://www.themonitor.com/news/us_ne...9e22fbed7.html