FBI employee sentenced to probation for accepting cruise
Jones, 47, pleaded guilty in June to a one-count indictment charging him with acceptance of an illegal gratuity. According to the Justice Department, Jones admitted that he accepted a vendor’s offer for him and his family to join the company’s top executives and salespeople on a cruise in the Caribbean during the 2003 to 2004 New Year’s holiday.
Jones, who was an FBI equipment program manager at the time, was responsible for negotiating, reviewing and making recommendations regarding a $2 million blanket purchase agreement for the purchase of upgraded shredders to meet new national security standards for the destruction of classified information, according to the Justice Department.
Jones admitted that he reviewed and approved the bid of an undisclosed company and subsequently served as the liaison for all FBI field offices to submit their purchase requests to the company for new shredders.
Shortly after visiting the company and approving their machines for purchase, Jones admitted that he accepted the company’s offer for him and his family to join company officials on a Caribbean cruise. The total value of the gratuity, including lodging and airfare, was approximately $7,500. In addition to probation, the judge ordered Jones to pay a $5,000 fine.
According to the Department of Justice, Jones was a physical security specialist with the FBI at the bureau’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., at the time of his arrest.
