A Florida man was sentenced to five years in federal prison for running a scheme to defraud the U.S. military of millions of dollars through falsified fuel contract documents, the Justice Department announced.
Jasen Butler, 38, of Jupiter, Florida, was sentenced Thursday in West Palm Beach by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks to 60 months in prison and criminal forfeiture. A jury convicted Butler in January on 34 counts of wire fraud, forgery, and money laundering.
According to evidence presented at trial, Butler, the owner of Independent Marine Oil Services LLC, corrupted the competitive bidding process for military fuel contracts between August 2022 and January 2024. He submitted dozens of falsified documents — including wire transfer memos and invoices — to multiple U.S. warships seeking to purchase fuel at international ports in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Croatia. Butler received more than $4.5 million in payments for expenses he had not actually incurred, prosecutors said.
After Butler came under scrutiny by Navy officials, he continued the scheme by concealing his identity from government officials. He adopted a false name and claimed employment with a fictitious fuel division of another company. He used the proceeds of the scheme to enrich himself, including purchasing multiple multi-million-dollar properties in Florida and Colorado, which are subject to a forfeiture order.
“The defendant stole millions of dollars from our military with a fake job, fake identity, and fake invoices,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said the department has “zero tolerance for those who seek to corrupt competition” and pursued maximum incarceration.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said the case reflects a calculated scheme targeting the military for personal gain. “When you defraud our armed forces, you are not just committing fraud, you are undermining operations that protect this country,” he said.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service as part of the Justice Department’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force, a joint law enforcement effort targeting antitrust crimes and fraud schemes affecting government procurement.
Investigators said the SEA Card program — which supports the Navy’s purchase of fuel at international ports — was central to the scheme.
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