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ST. CROIX — A local National Park Service employee has pleaded guilty to charges of converting property of another and embezzlement of public funds, United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced today. The defendant, Gregory Camacho, 43, entered his plea before Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller.
Camacho, who potentially faces a maximum of one year imprisonment, five years of probation, and one year of supervised release on each count, also agreed to repay an undetermined amount of restitution as part of his plea agreement.
Court documents revealed that the National Park Service offers housing units on St. Croix for rent to its employees. Camacho failed to pay rent on two different units, one from June 2019 through January 2020, and another from February 2020 through June 2020. The non-payment resulted in a loss to the National Park Service of $14,192.10.
In addition, Camacho falsely claimed in July 2019 that he and his family had moved from Florida to St. Croix, VI. Consequently, he received $13,387.50 in relocation reimbursement based on this misrepresentation.
Furthermore, Camacho submitted fraudulent travel vouchers on four separate occasions between October 2018 and September 2019. These false claims led to Camacho receiving an additional $1,922.50 in travel reimbursements.
The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of the Interior carried out the investigation into these incidents. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel H. Huston.
