A Des Allemands man has been sentenced to repay more than $28,000 and four-year probation after fraudulently claiming he lost income as a boat deckhand from the BP oil spill.
Derrick Joseph Duran, 28, was sentenced on three felony counts of mail fraud made in connection with the false claims on March 17, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Duran earlier pleaded guilty to the charges, which were made in June of last year.
On or about Aug. 25, 2010, Duran submitted an application stating he lost income for 12 months as a deckhand on a fishing vessel during 2010 before the oil spill.
According to court documents, GCCF mailed him checks totaling $28,018.52.
Since the BP Oil Spill, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) has made assistance money available to individuals and businesses affected by the oil spill resulting from the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20, 2010.
The GCCF required individuals verify lost income.In July of last year, Melissa Ann Duran, 42, also of Des Allemands, was charged with one felony count of mail fraud in connection with her alleged false claims made on or about Aug. 23, 2010 totaling $33,800.
On her GCCF forms, she claimed to have lost income as a seafood processor for a commercial fisherman from 2008 to 2010.
If convicted, Melissa Duran faces up to 20 years in jail, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release following imprisonment and a $100 special assessment.
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