Navy Officer Took Bribes for Special Immigrant Visas
U.S. Navy Commander Jeromy Pittmann while on duty in Afghanistan in 2014. A federal court convicted Pittmann in July of charges related to receiving bribes in exchange for Special Immigrant Visas. U.S. Navy Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick Gordon.
Jeromy Pittmann, 53, of Pensacola, Florida, who served his country for two decades, was convicted on July 12 of multiple criminal charges, according to the prosecutor’s office. He stood accused of receiving bribes in exchange for writing, submitting and providing verification for bogus letters of recommendation for Afghan citizens who had applied for SIVs with the U.S. Department of State.
The State Department issues a limited amount of SIVs, which allow Afghan nationals to enter the United States, and are typically given to citizens of Afghanistan who work as translators assisting U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan. With a limited amount of SIVs awarded by the government, legitimate Afghan citizens were robbed of the opportunity to earn an SIV, many of whom took enormous personal risks to themselves and their families to assist the U.S. military.
“This indictment alleges crimes that disregarded the thousands of Afghan translators who helped the United States and are still trying to get out of Afghanistan,” John F. Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), said in a press release. “(Pittmann’s) abuse of his position of trust shows no regard for qualified Afghans asking for help, or national security implications when vetting foreign nationals.”
From February 2018 to September 2020, Pittmann signed over 20 illegitimate letters where he personally vouched for Afghan applicants and claimed that he knew and observed them as they assisted the U.S. military as translators, according to the criminal complaint. He also claimed their lives were at risk due to being considered traitors by the Taliban because they assisted the U.S., and that they did not pose a risk to U.S. national security, when in fact he did not know the applicants at all and was in no position to ensure they were not a security risk to Americans.
“Just by being a translator directly supporting the United States army and NATO forces his life is in jeopardy some of the extremist and Taliban consider him a traitor despite his hardship he always shows up for work,” Pittmann wrote in a letter that was detailed in the criminal complaint. “I do not see [applicant] as a threat to the United States and in my opinion he would become a productive member of American society if allowed to emigrate.”
In an attempt to conceal the bribe payments, Pittmann created fake invoices claiming the money was in exchange for official consulting work he provided. When charged in March 2022, Pittmann was found to have received thousands of dollars in bribery payments, according to the press release.
Pittmann was ultimately convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery and false writing, bribery, false writing, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering. He faces up to 45 years in federal prison, sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 21.
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