EUGENE, Ore.—Jeffrey Robert Cotton, 45, the former Manager
of the Burns Municipal Airport in Burns, Oregon, was sentenced today to 4
years’ probation and 300 hours of community service for stealing thousands of
dollars of equipment that rightfully belonged to the City of Burns, by
converting to his personal use property acquired through the Federal Personal
Property Utilization Program.
The Federal Personal Property Utilization Program is
intended to benefit state and local governments and eligible organizations by
giving them property the federal government no longer needs at no cost.
According to court documents, between 2014 and 2016, Cotton
acquired, allegedly on behalf of the airport, numerous pieces of federal excess
property including a heater/air conditioner, commercial lighting sets and
various trucks and vans, tractors, and other heavy equipment.
Throughout the acquisition process, Cotton failed to fully
inform or notify the City of Burns, its mayor, city manager or city council of
the federal excess property obtained on its behalf. Instead, Cotton illegally
converted much of the property to his personal use, either by titling property
in his own name or transferring the property to Emergency Equipment Solutions,
Inc. (EES), a nonprofit fully owned and operated by Cotton.
When confronted with the theft, Cotton lied and misrepresented
information regarding how he had obtained the property. Additionally, Cotton
signed phony bills of sale falsely representing that EES had purchased the
property. Records show thousands of dollars were transferred from EES to Cotton
personally.
On April 11, 2019, Cotton pleaded guilty to two counts of
theft from a local government receiving federal funds.
This case was investigated by the General Services
Administration Office of Inspector General and the FBI, and was prosecuted by
Gavin W. Bruce, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
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