A North Carolina man and former subcontractor for the U.S. Marine Corps was sentenced to 18 months in prison after destroying evidence in an investigation, according to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
William Thompson, the 56-year-old owner of C&D Painting and Construction, previously admitted to being guilty of the obstruction of justice after he deleted text messages that were relevant to an ongoing investigation regarding bribery and procurement fraud, according to a DOJ statement.
Former Subcontractor Sentenced for Obstruction of Justice https://t.co/fG7hazi0aX
— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) February 17, 2021
Thompson was approached in Mar. 2018 by officials from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), FBI, and IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) regarding an investigation into reported bribery. The investigation was regarding work that Thompson’s company had done at the home of a civilian employee who had been employed with the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejune (MCBCL).
At the time that Thompson was approached, the investigation was not known to all parties, including the civilian employee, according to the DOJ statement.
Following the interview with the agents, Thompson contacted the civilian employee he had done work for and discussed that there was an ongoing investigation into the contracting matters that Thompson had done at the home. (RELATED: Supplement Company Owner Sentenced For Selling Unapproved ‘Steroid-Like Drugs’)
Thompson subsequently deleted the text messages between himself and the civilian employee even though they were classified as evidence in the case, according to the DOJ.