NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Federal prosecutors say they now have 19 convictions in connection with a scheme to post phony passing test scores for people taking mariner exams at a U.S. Coast Guard station in Louisiana.
The three latest guilty pleas were reported Monday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. They included a plea by a woman who paid a bribe to have a passing score entered in records, and who also acted as an intermediary for other mariners in the scheme. Sixteen other people pleaded guilty in January.
A November indictment charged more than 30 people in the case. The charges center around Dorothy Smith, a former employee at an exam center in Mandeville.
Prosecutors said in November that intermediaries would funnel money and the mariners’ requests to Smith, who would then falsely report the scores in the Coast Guard computer system. This allowed different applicants to get licenses to work on ships. Smith has pleaded not guilty and is slated for a June trial.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.