(KMJ) – 33-year old Nicholas Huerta of Fresno has plead guilty to one count of wire fraud for a fraud scheme involving military recruiting bonuses.
According to Federal court documents, the United States Army contracted with Document and Packaging Broker Inc. (DOCUPAK) to administer the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program (G-RAP). If a Recruiting Assistant referred a potential Guard member to a recruiting office and that person ultimately enlisted, the Recruiting Assistant was eligible to receive monetary compensation disbursed by DOCUPAK.
Huerta served in the California National Guard as a recruiter. In that position, he had access to names of recruits who had not been referred by any Recruiting Assistant.
Huerta pleaded guilty Monday to taking part in a scheme that caused DOCUPAK to issue compensation that was not earned by claiming that various enlistees had been referred by Recruiting Assistants when, in fact, they had not.
Huerta is scheduled to be sentenced on December 7th and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Seven other National Guard members have been charged in six separate indictments for their roles in similar recruiting fraud scheme in Fresno and Sacramento.
