Former President of Remington Volunteer Fire Department Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement Charge

ALEXANDRIA, VA—William Joseph Stuart, age 52, of Bealton, Virginia, the former president of the Remington Volunteer Fire Department, pleaded guilty today to one charge of theft from a program receiving federal funds.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Thomas J. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema. Stuart was indicted on July 25, 2013, by a federal grand jury with one count of theft from an organization receiving federal funds. Stuart faces a maximum penalty of 10 years when he is sentenced on November 15, 2013.

In a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Stuart admitted that between September 2008 and April 2009, he did steal funds totaling more than $40,000 from the Remington Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department (RVFD) in Remington, Virginia, by submitting false and fraudulent invoices to the RVFD. Stuart admitted that he then wrote checks to himself and acquired a second signature from another RVFD officer based on the false invoices that Stuart created.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Mark D. Lytle is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

Any person who believes they may have information regarding public corruption in the Northern Virginia area is encouraged to call the FBI’s Northern Virginia Public Corruption Hotline at 703-686-6225.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.