Mississippi Man’s Oil Spill Fraud Trial Set

A South Mississippi man is scheduled for trial Feb. 18 on federal charges that he faked documents about his employment to receive $36,000 in oil-spill recovery money.

The Sun Herald reports a federal grand jury in Gulfport indicted Elvis O’Neal Gray on two counts of wire fraud and one count of fraud.

The indictment alleges Gray received the money after claiming he lost work as a deckhand on a commercial oyster boat known as the “Strick” or “Strike” in Pass Christian.

Prosecutors say he also allegedly submitted fraudulent records, including fishing trip tickets, hull and vessel registrations and an employment letter, to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility.

Gray made the claims in Harrison and Jackson counties after the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in April 2010. He received the money in a wire transfer to his bank account.

He has pleaded not guilty and is free on a $25,000 bond.