Former Background Investigator for Federal Government Sentenced for Making False Statements

           WASHINGTON – Bradley Lane, 30, a former background investigator for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), was sentenced today to 36 months of probation, including 6 months of GPS Electronic Monitor on one false statements charge in connection with his falsification of work on background investigations of federal employees and contractors.

           U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Thomas W. South, Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, U.S. Office of Personnel Management made the announcement today.

           Lane, of Virginia, pled guilty on May 15, 2019, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of making false statements. He was sentenced by the Honorable Thomas F. Hogan. As part of his sentence, he is required to pay $212,407.03 in restitution to OPM.

           According to court papers, Lane was an investigator tasked with conducting background investigations on behalf of OPM’s National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB). NBIB conducts background investigations to determine suitability for federal positions of public trust, including positions having access to classified information and impacting national security. NBIB also conducts investigations for federal employees and contractors seeking security clearances.

           Lane admitted that, in conducting these investigations between November 23, 2015 and October 24, 2016, he falsely claimed to have interviewed a source or reviewed a record regarding the subject of the background investigation in at least 94 instances on 57 different background investigations.

           Lane acknowledged at his guilty plea hearing that his false representations required OPM’s NBIB to reopen and rework background investigations that were assigned to him during the time period in which he falsified reports. The government estimated the cost of the recovery effort at more than $212,000 to the U.S. government.

           NBIB, through its workforce of approximately 5,400 field investigators, is responsible for conducting background investigations for numerous federal agencies and their contractors, on individuals either employed by or seeking employment with those agencies or contractors.  NBIB conducted more than 2.6 million investigations during the 2018 fiscal year.  More than  787,557 of these investigations involved applicants for access or continued access to classified information. 

           NBIB has a robust integrity assurance program, which utilizes a variety of methods to ensure the accuracy of reported information. The falsification of investigative case work by Lane was detected through the program.  This is one of numerous cases prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia since 2008 involving false representations by background investigators and record checkers working on federal background investigations.  Approximately 25 other background investigators and record checkers have been convicted of charges similar to those brought against Lane.

           In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu and Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations South praised the efforts of those who worked on the case from OPM’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), as well as the Special Investigations Branch, and Executive Program Director of Integrity Assurance of OPM-NBIB. They also acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney David Misler of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section, who investigated and prosecuted this matter, and former OPM OIG Special Agent Samuel Peyton, who previously worked on the investigation of the matter.