A man and a woman were sentenced to prison terms on Thursday for conspiracy in making fraudulent damages claims related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.
A court in Gulfport, Mississippi sentenced Gregory Warren of Louisiana, the male defendant, to 17 years and a $25,000 fine. Alabama resident Thi Houng Le, the female defendant, was given seven years plus a $25,000 fine.
They were found guilty of conspiring to commit identity theft, aggravated identity theft, mail fraud and wire fraud when they submitted tens of thousands of bogus claims relating to the disaster.
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded on April 20, 2010, claiming 11 lives. The subsequent spill from the uncapped well lasted nearly three months, gushing almost 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf.
