Source: www.usdoj.gov\opa\pr\1997\June97\233crm.htm

THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1997

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CHARGES FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY IN L.A.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice today announced that it has filed a criminal information charging Andrew S. Pitt, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, in Los Angeles, California, with three felony counts of wire fraud and conflict of interest for acts conducted while he was employed at the Justice Department.

Pitt is charged with two counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. .. 1343 and 1346, and one count of conflict of interest, in violation of 18 U.S.C. . 208. The criminal information was filed pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement.

Pitt, 39, of Aqua Dulce, California was hired by the Department of Justice in 1988. Pitt submitted his resignation from his position on May 30, 1997.

The criminal information charges Pitt with engaging in a scheme and artifice to defraud the U.S. Department of Justice and the citizens of the United States of his honest and faithful services as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. As alleged in the information, Pitt is charged with the following activities:

In April 1993, Pitt, acting under color of his authority as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, obtained $33,000 from a person who was cooperating with the United States government and Pitt. Upon obtaining this money, Pitt wrongfully used the entire sum for personal purposes.

From June 1994 through September 1994, Pitt directly and indirectly accepted $98,000 from a cooperator who had previously been convicted in the Northern District of Texas after Pitt had performed, and while he was continuing to perform, official acts on behalf of, or in connection with, the Texas cooperator.

From April 1995 through July 1995, Pitt directly and indirectly sought and accepted $35,000, a diamond and sapphire "tennis bracelet" valued at approximately $800, and a cut diamond, valued at approximately $1,500, from a cooperator previously convicted in the Northern District of Georgia after Pitt had performed, and while he was continuing to perform, official acts on behalf of, or in connection with, the Georgia cooperator.

In addition, in November and December 1994, Pitt engaged in a conflict of interest by knowingly and willfully participating personally and substantially as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in a particular matter, that is, the entry into the United States of six foreign nationals, in which he, his wife and his company in which he and his wife served as officers and directors, had a financial interest, in violation of 18 U.S.C. . 208.

Each of the three felony violations carries a maximum possible sentence of five years of in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release.

The case against Pitt was investigated by the Los Angeles Division of the F.B.I. and prosecuted by Nancy J. Newcomb, Senior Trial Attorney, and Robert L. Walker and Miles F. Ehrlich, Trial Attorneys, of the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section, Criminal Division.