Beale worker made bogus $773 travel request, jury says. She may face $100,000 fine, prison

A Lincoln woman who worked for three years at Beale Air Force Base handling finances was found guilty last week of a misdemeanor fraudulent demand against the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.

Alyssa L. Gervais, 25, was a senior airman who separated from the Air Force in January. Gervais in February filed a reimbursement request seeking travel compensation for the trip from Beale Air Force Base back to her home in Indiana, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

In her travel voucher, Gervais said she, her husband and their toddler son took two vehicles on the 2,000-mile trip, which took eight days and cost about $773. However, the finance department discovered and Gervais later confessed to investigators that she and her family never left California, according to the news release.

Gervais in trial recanted that confession, testifying that the travel voucher was submitted lawfully in an effort to get a monetary advance for a future trip to Indiana. Witnesses in court said the advance would require different procedures and forms, according to the news release.

A federal jury found Gervais guilty of the fraudulent action during a two-day trial, as announced by U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott.

Maximum statutory penalties include one year in prison and a $100,000 fine; however, Friday’s news release says the sentence “will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.”

Gervais is set to be sentenced Jan. 9 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman