A Plain Township Army veteran who handled logistics at the Cleveland VA is headed to federal prison after authorities say he treated a government credit card like his own personal electronics tab. Prosecutors said he rang up nearly $200,000 in iPads, iPhones and home-audio gear between April 2022 and May 2023, keeping some items and reselling others for cash on online marketplaces. A federal judge sentenced him to a year and a day behind bars, ordered roughly $198,184 in restitution and directed that seized property be returned so it can be sold to help pay back what he owes, a case that has sharpened local questions about internal controls at the Cleveland VA.
Prosecutors' account
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio, 41-year-old Dustin Jagger pleaded guilty last October and was sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Judge Dan A. Polster to 12 months and one day in prison. The U.S. Attorney's Office said Jagger was ordered to pay $198,183.84 in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release. “Any federal employee who abuses their position for personal gain, contributes to the erosion of the public’s trust,” U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer said in the release.
Court orders and local context
Local reporting says Judge Polster ordered any property seized from the defendant returned so Jagger could sell it to help cover restitution, and that the court set a date for him to begin serving his sentence by the end of April. As reported by The Repository, Jagger, a seven-year Army veteran, now works at a Plain Township fast-food restaurant, and investigators found additional VA-purchased speakers, soundbars, adapters and headphones at his apartment.
Traffic stop exposed scheme's scale
Prosecutors say an Indiana traffic stop helped unravel the scheme when agents found more than $29,000 worth of Apple products bound for resale. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, officers seized 16 iPhones and eight iPads from the vehicle, along with a Glock 43 handgun with one round in the chamber, a loaded magazine, multiple credit cards in other people’s names and $4,262 in cash. An accomplice, 26-year-old Damarco McKinley, pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of stolen goods and was sentenced to the same term, the release said. “These sentences send a message that corrupt VA employees and those who profit from their illegal activities will be rooted out and prosecuted,” Special Agent in Charge Gregory Billingsley of the VA-OIG added.
Both defendants were ordered to serve 12 months and one day and will face supervised release afterward. Restitution and the process for liquidating returned property will be handled through the federal courts. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the case was investigated by the VA Office of Inspector General and prosecuted by the Northern District of Ohio.
