A Louisiana man used his position overseeing subcontracts for the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help steer $15 million in government work to a business in which he had a financial interest, a federal indictment handed down last week alleges.
The Associated Press reports the federal indictment in New Orleans charges Johnny C. Guillory Sr., 72, of Opelousas with conspiracy to defraud the government and making false statements. An attorney for Guillory said he will plead not guilty.
The news service reports that according to the indictment Guillory was employed by a company hired to manage and operate the reserve, which stores oil in Louisiana and Texas. His responsibilities included creating price and cost estimates for equipment and services that were supposed to remain non-public, according to the prosecution.
The indictment accuses him of passing the information on to a business owned by a co-conspirator, now deceased, with whom Guillory had a “personal, familial and business relationship.”
