U.S. Navy Reserve Commander Sentenced Following Afghan Visa Scandal

U.S. Navy Reserve Commander Jeromy Pittmann, 53, was sentenced on October 28th, 2024, for his role in a years-long bribery scheme involving Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) for Afghan nationals who had worked with the United States government. Between 2018 and 2020, Pittmann had signed over 20 falsified letters of recommendation for the SIV program..What is the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Program?The Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) is a U.S. government program that provides permanent residence to foreign nationals who have aided the U.S. government abroad and who may be at risk due to their work.This program was started in 2006 to help resettle persons who worked with the U.S. Armed Forces or under Chief of Mission authority as a translator or interpreter in Iraq or Afghanistan. The U.S. Department of State only allows a Special Immigrant Visa for up to 50 persons per year.Since 2009, the U.S. Department of State has issued approximately 50,000 Special Immigrant Visas to Afghan and Iraqi nationals for their aid to the United States government throughout the duration of the Global War on Terror (GWOT)..What Happened?Upon investigation by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), it was found that between May of 2018 and September of 2020, Pittmann had signed over 20 falsified letters of recommendation, vouching for SIV applicants.In these letters, Pittmann claimed that he had supervised these applicants when they had served as translators in support of NATO or the U.S. military. He also claimed that the lives of these applicants were at risk due to the Taliban's increased aggression towards Afghan nationals working with the United States and that, to his knowledge, the applicants held no threat towards United States national security. In actuality, Pittmann did not know these applicants and had no reason to be recommending them for Special Immigrant Visas.In return for these letters, Pittmann accepted several thousand dollars in bribes. To avoid being detected, Pittmann received funds through a middleman and falsified invoices to further push the narrative that he was receiving these funds for legitimate work, not affiliated with his military service.It is indicated that, from messages to a co-conspirator, Pittmann utilized funds gained from the bribes to pay his debts. In an email written in July of 2018, Pittmann wrote, “Thank you and thank your friend for sending it. 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.”On Friday, July 12th 2024, a jury convicted Pittmann of conspiracy to commit bribery and false writing, bribery, false writing, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering..“Pittmann’s participation in this bribery scheme not only jeopardized the integrity of the SIV program, which protects our allies, but also introduced significant security risks to our nation,” said Special Agent in Charge Greg Gross of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Economic Crimes Field Office. “NCIS and our partners will continue to hold accountable those who exploit government processes for personal gain, ensuring that the safety of the public and our warfighters is preserved.”“The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is firmly committed to protecting the integrity of all U.S. visas and travel documents,” said Deputy Assistant Director Greg Batman of DSS. “This case is the result of a strong partnership among federal law enforcement agencies and DSS’ global network of special agents working together to stop visa and passport crimes and to stop criminals from earning illegal income by exploiting U.S. visas, passports, and foreign nationals.”