Navy officer jailed for involvement in Afghan visa bribe scheme

A Navy Reserve officer will be sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a bribery scheme to provide unidentified Afghan nationals with visas to the United States.

Commander Jeromy Pittmann, a 53-year-old Civil Engineer Corps officer who deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 and 2015 with NATO Special Operations Command, received thousands of dollars for writing, submitting and falsely verifying false letters of recommendation for Afghan citizens seeking special immigration visa. According to the Ministry of Justice.

Afghans who have worked with U.S. troops and diplomats as interpreters are eligible for a limited number of special immigrant visas from the State Department each year, allowing them to live in the United States.

Pittmann personally signed more than 20 letters in which he vouched for Afghan national visa applicants, claiming they worked as translators for the U.S. military and NATO troops, the report said. In addition, Pittmann stated that these applicants do not pose a threat to US national security and that their lives are under threat from the Taliban.

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But the Justice Department said Pittmann accepted thousands of dollars in bribes and had no basis to recommend the applicants.

Pittmann, who first appeared in federal court in March 2022 on charges of accepting bribes and conspiracy to commit visa fraud, coordinated with an accomplice in Kabul as early as 2018, according to court documents. The two met during Pittman’s deployment to Afghanistan in 2014 and 2015, records show.

Pittmann received money through a Bank of America account in Hayward, California, which was then transferred to a USAA account in Pensacola, Florida, disguised as a transaction called “family support,” according to court documents.

“I received this today. Thank you and your friend for this,” Pittmann said in an email after receiving the payment in 2018, according to court documents. “I just want the money to keep coming. Ha. Maybe one day we’ll start a business. It would be nice to pay off my debts.”

Pittmann entered service in 2003 and is an officer in the Civil Engineer Corps, according to service records obtained by Navy Times.

In July, a federal court found Pittmann guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, making materially false documents and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faced up to 45 years in prison before his sentencing on Monday.

“By protecting Afghan citizens who risk their personal safety to assist the U.S. government, the SIV program is essential to the safety of U.S. military and diplomatic personnel in Afghanistan,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division. the statement says.

“However, Jeromy Pittmann used his power over the program to benefit foreign nationals who paid him bribes by falsely claiming that they were serving the United States,” Argentieri said. “Today’s sentence demonstrates that the Department of Justice has no tolerance for those who put their personal interests above our national security.”