Former Government Employee Sentenced to 17-Month Prison Term for Concealing Information During Application Process

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Former Government Employee Sentenced to 17-Month Prison Term for Concealing Information During Application Process

Defendant Found Guilty by Jury of Fraud, Other Charges

            WASHINGTON – Chance Barrow, 32, of Lusby, Md., was sentenced today to 17 months in prison for concealing material information when he successfully applied to become a federal law enforcement officer, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves announced.

            Barrow was found guilty by a jury in June 2021 of two counts of wire fraud and one count of engaging in a scheme to conceal material facts. The verdict followed a trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In addition to the prison term, the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Barrow to pay $77,000 in restitution. Following his prison term, he will be placed on three years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence at trial, beginning in May 2018, Barrow perpetrated schemes to conceal and to defraud when he initiated and progressed through the application process for a law enforcement position with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration. (TIGTA).  In particular, at every point at which he was required to disclose the circumstances of his departure from his previous law enforcement position with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command, he failed to state that he resigned before he was fired. He also hid the fact that, at the time of the application, he was under criminal investigation; no charges ultimately were filed in that investigation.

            As a result of Barrow’s actions, according to the evidence at trial, he was hired by TIGTA and drew a federal salary. Several months after he started work, in July 2019, investigating other people for crimes of fraud, his misrepresentations came to light.

            The case was investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth A. Aloi and Amanda R. Vaughn, and assistance was provided by Paralegal Specialist Quiana Dunn-Gordon.