Following a criminal scheme that seemed like something straight out of a movie, a Virginia Naval officer was sentenced to more than four years in prison for scamming the U.S. Navy out of nearly $3 million. One of the primary reasons 45-year old Lt. Randolph Prince concocted and carried out the plan was to pay for a high stakes gambling habit as well as luxury cars.
Prince was part of the Navy’s supply staff and as such, had a hand in what his unit purchased. The scheme was relatively simple, but had no chance in going unnoticed long-term. Some of Prince’s friends setup fake companies from which Prince ordered equipment for his naval unit. No goods were ever shipped and since it was Prince who signed off on the deliveries, it took a while before anybody was the wiser.
From the press release issued by the United States Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia:
Prince took advantage of his position to direct purchases to the sham companies, which had been opened for the sole purpose of receiving government contracts from Prince. When a contract landed on the desk of one of these companies, Prince, and others, would generate fraudulent documentation to suggest the company had honored its end of the bargain. With this documentation in hand, the Navy would then pay the company. However, the sham companies never provided the Navy with anything at all. Instead, they distributed the Navy money amongst Prince and his associates.
In all, Prince and his cohorts defrauded the Navy out of more than $2.7 million, all of which he has been ordered to pay back.
In August he pleaded guilty to wire fraud and to making a false statement on his 2014 tax return (probably because he didn’t report the income).
He faced as many as 20 years behind bars. Prosecutors wanted 7.5 years, while his defense, knowing he was guilty, wanted two.
The other men involved in the scam were Lt. j.g. Courtney Cloman and Clayton Pressley III. Both have also pleaded guilty. Pressley has been given two years in prison, while Cloman’s sentencing is set for February. Prince’s attorney, Shawn Cline, tried to convince the court that Pressley was the ringleader, but nobody bought that argument.
“It’s a shame that he squandered an otherwise outstanding 27-year Naval career,” Cline said in an e-mail to the Virginian-Pilot. “He suffered from a terrible gambling addiction and abused a position of trust to fuel that addiction.”
Cline also leaned on Prince’s military service when asking for leniency.
When his time in service is remembered, it won’t be for the fact that he rose from the lowest enlisted ranks to the grade of Lieutenant, or that he served in a dangerous war zone in direct combat when his nation needed him most. It will be the events of this sentencing hearing that are his legacy. Rather than being something with which he can look back on with pride, he will spend the rest of his life hoping that the people with whom he interacts are not aware of the time he spent serving in the Navy.
He is not incorrect. Whether that plea worked or not, 4.5 years seems generous for his client.