A Marine Corps lance corporal is in the military brig for illegally using a Pentagon credit card to buy herself a car, motorcycle, furniture and a breast-lift, according to the Marine Forces Reserve. Sherry K. Pierre pleaded guilty and was convicted on June 17 of making $129,709.11 worth of illegal purchases on her government-issued charge card between May 2000 and June 2001 while assigned to the Marine Forces Reserve headquarters in New Orleans.
As punishment for her spending bender, Pierre was demoted from staff sergeant to lance corporal, fined $30,000, and sent to a Miramar, Calif., military brig on a 14-month sentence, said command spokesman Al Foucha. Her case is on appeal, and could end in Pierre being completely bounced from the military.
The cosmetically enhanced Marine's spree is just the latest — and perhaps most egregious — example of the type of abuse officials want to prevent in the federal "purchase card" program, which is intended to reduce waste. Pierre's conviction was first reported in Defense Week on Monday and confirmed by ABCNEWS.com.
Pentagon officials say financial abuses can happen anywhere, in the government or private sector, and that auditing techniques developed since Pierre's infractions will help prevent future misuse of the government-issued charge cards.
"Human greed is an amazing motivator for many people," said Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokeswoman. "Precautions we have in place will help us eliminate those kinds of frauds that people will perpetrate."
For her part, Pierre regrets her actions, is doing her time and taking classes, says her defense counsel, Capt. Angela Wissman.
"She is very sorry, and that's one of the reasons she pleaded guilty," Wissman said. "She's taking courses in the brig in order to improve and is working hard to get back into the community."
Pierre's improper purchases included a car, motorcycle, breast-lift surgery, furniture and other household goods and a down payment on another vehicle. Many of the items were recovered by military criminal investigators in Pierre's Florida home, according to the Marine Forces Reserve.
An Intention to Streamline
Purchase cards are used by all federal agencies to buy goods and services for official government use. The idea behind the program, started in 1989, was to streamline government purchases by allowing agencies to deal directly with vendors, reducing administrative costs and cutting bureaucratic red tape.
While the cards are used mainly for "micropurchases," or transactions worth less than $2,500, some government employees are authorized to buy above that limit. Pierre was among those with greater authorization.
In fiscal year 2001, federal card holders made 24 million purchases valued at $13.7 billion, according to the General Services Administration, which also estimated that the program would save approximately $1.3 billion a year.
But the purchase card program has fallen vulnerable to abuse, and not just at the Pentagon.
Last March, the General Accounting Office, which is investigating purchase card programs at several agencies, reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development could not legitimize more than $1.3 million in approved purchases, including more than $74,000 at computer and electronic stores and $27,000 at department stores such as Macy's and Sears.
Last year, the GAO issued similar criticisms of the Army, Navy and Air Force for alleged purchase card abuse. The White House Office of Management and Budget also ordered agencies last year to investigate purchase card abuse.
The Pentagon, which accounted for 11 million purchases in fiscal year 2002 valued at $6.8 billion, has undertaken its own oversight program. On June 27, the Pentagon's inspector general said that out of 1,357 Pentagon purchase card holders chosen for audit, 182 card holders potentially used their cards inappropriately in about $5 million worth of transactions.
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