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Contractor, FEMA officials indicted over Puerto Rico grid rebuild

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested two Federal Emergency Management Agency officials and a former executive contractor tasked with rebuilding Puerto Rico's power grid on various charges of bribery and fraud.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Sept. 10 announced the arrests and indictment of FEMA's Region II Deputy Regional Administrator Ahsha Tribble, former President of Cobra Acquisitions LLC Donald Ellison and former FEMA Deputy Chief of Staff Jovanda Patterson. The three individuals are accused of conspiracy to commit bribery of public officials, acts affecting a personal financial interest, false statements, disaster fraud, honest services wire fraud, wire fraud and violations of the Travel Act.

A grand jury returned a 15-count indictment against the three defendants for allegedly using Tribble's position in FEMA to defraud the U.S. following the September 2017 landfall of Hurricane María that wrecked Puerto Rico's power grid. All three individuals came to the U.S. territory as part of recovery efforts.

While Tribble served as FEMA's lead on restoring electric power to Puerto Rico, Ellison was president of the main contractor tapped by the government-owned islandwide utility, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or PREPA, to carry out that task. In total, PREPA awarded the small company $1.8 billion in FEMA-funded contracts during 2017 and 2018 to repair storm damage to the grid. The ultimate parent company of Cobra Acquisitions is Mammoth Energy Services Inc., a small Oklahoma City-based oilfield service company.

From October 2017 to April 2019, the DOJ alleged, Ellison gained illegal influence over FEMA by bribing Tribble with gifts, such as providing personal helicopter use, hotel accommodations, airfare, personal security services and the use of a credit card. In exchange, Tribble allegedly performed official acts, including influencing, advising, and exerting pressure on PREPA and FEMA officials to award restoration work contracts to Cobra and to accelerate payments to Cobra.

Ellison is also accused of securing employment in Cobra's affiliated companies for Patterson, Tribble's friend and colleague. While negotiating employment with Cobra and its affiliates from March 2018 to July 2018, Patterson participated as a FEMA employee in a May 2018 past performance evaluation for a Cobra affiliate as a part of a vendor bid process.

As part of the alleged conspiracy, the DOJ said Tribble and Ellison communicated through private email accounts, private cellphones, Apple iMessage and SMS texts rather than official FEMA email accounts or FEMA-issued cell phones. Further, Tribble and Ellison are accused of lying to FBI and Homeland Security agents for denying having any personal relationship with each other or taking a helicopter ride together.

"These defendants were supposed to come to Puerto Rico to help during the recovery after the devastation suffered from Hurricane María," said U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez. "Instead, they decided to take advantage of the precarious conditions of our electric power grid and engaged in a bribery and honest services wire fraud scheme in order to enrich themselves illegally."

"All government officials are entrusted with performing their duties honestly and ethically," Rodríguez-Vélez said. "The charged offenses are reprehensible, more so in light of PREPA's and Puerto Rico's fiscal crisis."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security added that the charges send a clear message that "corruption in the ranks at DHS and its components will not be tolerated."

If found guilty, the defendants are facing possible sentences of up to 5 years for conspiracy, Travel Act violations, conflict of interest and false statements as well as up to 30 years for honest services wire fraud and disaster fraud. Tribble and Ellison are also facing the forfeitures of various vehicles and more than $4.5 million in money.

Responding to the indictments, Mammoth spokesperson Peter Mirijanian said in a statement that Cobra's parent company has been cooperating with the government investigation and will continue to do so.