Fuel Executive Sentenced to Five Years for Defrauding U.S. Military of $4.5 Million in Fake Fuel Contracts

Jasen Butler, 38, of Jupiter, Florida, was sentenced on April 8, 2026, in West Palm Beach by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks. A jury had convicted Butler in January on 34 counts of wire fraud, forgery, and money laundering.

Butler owned Independent Marine Oil Services LLC. According to the evidence at trial, he corrupted the competitive bidding process for military fuel contracts and submitted dozens of falsified documents — including wire transfer memos and invoices — to multiple U.S. warships between August 2022 and January 2024. The ships were purchasing fuel in international ports in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Croatia. Butler received more than $4.5 million in payments for phony expenses he had not incurred.

When Navy officials began scrutinizing his conduct, Butler adopted a false name and feigned employment by a fictitious fuel division of a different company. He used the proceeds to purchase multiple multi-million-dollar properties in Florida and Colorado. Judge Middlebrooks entered a preliminary order of forfeiture for those properties.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the defendant stole millions of dollars from the military with a fake job, fake identity, and fake invoices, and that the 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 Antitrust Division said the division and its staff have zero tolerance for those who seek to corrupt competition. U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quinones for the Southern District of Florida said the defendant submitted false documents, stole millions in taxpayer funds, and then tried to hide behind a fake identity, and that defrauding the armed forces is not just fraud but an act that undermines operations that protect the country.

Special Agent in Charge Greg Gross of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Economic Crimes Field Office identified the affected program as the SEA Card program, which he described as indispensable to the U.S. Navy's global readiness.

The case was prosecuted by the DOJ Antitrust Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, and investigated by the Coast Guard Investigative Service, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service as part of the Justice Department's Procurement Collusion Strike Force.