Late last summer, Tactical Products Group, LLC (TPG) CEO Dan Thomas Lounsbury, Jr and Vice President for Sales and Federal Contracting Andres Lopez-Munoz were indicted by the US Government for conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims and wire fraud. Lounsbury is additionally charged with false, fictitious, or fraudulent claims.
Last week, they stood trial in the Eastern District of Virginia and were found guilty on charges of conspiracy, making false claims on the United States government, and wire fraud.
In 2012, TPG was selected as a sub-contractor to Triple Canopy on a contract to provide certain goods, including 10 sets of hard body armor plates, to the United States government.
The Government had requested a specific type of plate, and Lounsbury and Lopez-Munoz both knew that no substitutions were allowed. Furthermore, Lounsbury and Lopez-Munoz both knew that these plates were intended to protect government personnel in the field. Nevertheless, Lounsbury and Lopez-Munoz worked together to procure cheaper substitute plates, none of which were military-tested, and some of which were far outside of their warranty period. To get the United States government to accept and pay for these plates, Lounsbury and Lopez-Munoz had fake labels created and placed on the armor, falsely representing the plates to be the specific type that the government had ordered.
Lounsbury and Lopez-Munoz face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when sentenced on May 10. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
