Jasen Butler, 38, of Jupiter, Florida, received a 60-month prison sentence from U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks in West Palm Beach after being convicted in January on 34 counts of wire fraud, forgery, and money laundering. Butler, who owned Independent Marine Oil Services LLC, corrupted competitive bidding processes for military fuel contracts between August 2022 and January 2024, submitting dozens of falsified documents including wire transfer memos and invoices to multiple U.S. warships operating in international ports in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Croatia.
According to trial evidence, Butler targeted ships attempting to purchase fuel in international waters to defend strategic American interests around the globe, receiving over $4.5 million in payments for phony expenses he had not actually incurred. When Navy officials began scrutinizing his operations, Butler escalated his scheme by adopting a false identity and feigning employment with a fictitious fuel division of a different company to conceal his activities from government investigators.
Butler used the millions in criminal proceeds to purchase multiple multi-million-dollar properties in Florida and Colorado, which Judge Middlebrooks ordered forfeited through a preliminary forfeiture order. The sentencing reflects the court's assessment of Butler's calculated targeting of military operations for personal enrichment while undermining systems designed to support U.S. warfighting capabilities globally.
The case was prosecuted as part of the Justice Department's Procurement Collusion Strike Force, a joint law enforcement initiative targeting antitrust crimes and fraudulent schemes affecting government procurement at all levels. The strike force focuses on bid rigging, price fixing, market allocation, and other anticompetitive conduct that impacts government spending, with this case demonstrating the program's reach into military procurement fraud.
"The defendant stole millions of dollars from our military with a fake job, fake identity, and fake invoices," said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. "This administration takes defrauding the American military seriously with a prison sentence reflecting the seriousness of the crime." Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division added that "the Antitrust Division and its wonderful staff have zero tolerance for those who seek to corrupt competition."
The investigation was conducted by the Coast Guard Investigative Service, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Special Agent in Charge Jason J. Sargenski of DCIS emphasized that the scheme "stole millions from the American taxpayer and threatened to undermine a program essential for our global military operations."
The Justice Department noted that whistleblowers who report antitrust and related offenses resulting in criminal fines or recoveries of at least $1 million may be eligible for rewards ranging from 15 to 30 percent of money collected under the Antitrust Whistleblower Rewards Program.