Oil and Gas

Phony fisherman netted $75,000 in BP spill claim

by Patrick Flanagan

The U.S. Attorney in New Orleans says a Slidell man has pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with a claim he filed related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico BP oil spill.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The U.S. Attorney in New Orleans says a Slidell man has pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with a claim he filed related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico BP oil spill.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite said in a news release that 55-year-old Darrell Morris pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Prosecutors said that Morris applied for disaster relief funds in October 2010, presenting false documentation indicating that he had earned money as a commercial fisherman before the spill. Polite said Morris, who had never been in the commercial fishing business, received about $75,000.

Morris is to be sentenced in February. He could get up to five years in prison.