CHRISTIANSTED — A man who conned the National Park Service out of nearly $30,000 for relocation funds he didn’t need — was given nine months of home detention as a punishment.
Gregory Camacho, 43, of St. Croix, was sentenced to nine months of home detention with electronic monitoring after pleading guilty to converting property of another, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith said.
U.S. District Judge Wilma A. Lewis also ordered Camacho to serve four years of probation and imposed a fine of $6,000.00, a special assessment of $75.00.
The judge’s sentence also requires Camacho to pay $29,502.20 restitution to the National Park Service.
According to court documents, Camacho was the deputy park superintendent in St. Croix at the time of the crime. In June 2019 through August 2020, Camacho also served as the acting park superintendent.
As an employee, Camacho rented two units from the National Park Service housing units but failed to pay rent between June 2019 and June 2020 on both units which resulted in a loss of $14,192.10 to the
National Park Service.
In July 2019, Camacho relocated from Titusville, Florida, to St. Croix, and falsely claimed that his wife and four children relocated with him. As a result, Camacho received $13,387.50 in relocation expense reimbursement that he was not entitled to.
Between October 2018 and September 2019, Camacho traveled from his primary duty station and was entitled to reimbursement for various travel-related expenses, including meal and incidental expenditures on a per diem basis.
However, on four occasions, Camacho submitted overlapping travel vouchers for reimbursement. As a result, Camacho received an additional $1,922.50 in travel reimbursements that he was not entitled to.
This case was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of
the Interior. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Huston.