An officer in the U.S. Navy's civil engineer corps has been convicted of taking bribes in exchange for visa paperwork, which allowed unknown Afghan nationals to enter the United States without legitimate authorization.
A federal jury found that Cmdr. Jeremy Pittman, 53, had provided false letters of recommendation for more than 20 Afghans who wanted to file a Special Immigrant Visa application with the State Department. The program was a limited-entry opportunity for Afghan cooperators to escape Taliban retribution and emigrate to the United States
Through a broker, Pittman received a flat fee of $500 per false visa document. He had never met the applicants, but his letters claimed that he had supervised them in their "work as translators" for the U.S. military, and testified that he believed that they posed no security threat to the United States. Further, he falsified invoices for the broker to make it appear as though he was receiving legitimate "family support."
"I just wish the money would keep coming. Ha. Maybe one day we will get a business started. It would be nice to pay off my debts," Pittman said in a 2018 thank-you email to the broker.
The jury convicted Pittman of bribery and two related conspiracy charges, with a maximum possible penalty of 45 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for October 21.
