Pearland man gets 1 year for VA fraud

Contractor hired disabled veteran to pose as co-owner

A Pearland contractor will spend a year in federal custody after admitting he hired a disabled veteran to pose as his business partner to land a dozen lucrative U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs contracts over a six-year period.

U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett on Thursday sentenced Henry Guillory to one year in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release. The judge also ordered the former contractor to repay $450,781.99 to the regional office of Veterans Affairs. Bennett allowed Guillory to remain free on bail until he is summoned to report to federal authorities.

Guillory’s defense lawyers declined to comment on the hearing.

Guillory, 55, pleaded guilty on May 1 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud involving money transfers between 2012 and 2018. He admitted that he and his “partner” defrauded the VA of more than $1.6 million in the scheme.

According to court documents, Guillory falsely claimed that a service-disabled veteran was the majority owner of his business. Guillory had his friend, Derrick Andre Chizer, sign up as his fellow contractor.

The pair then landed 12 setaside contracts for maintenance and construction work at the DeBakey VA Medical Center. Guillory made $450,000 in the scheme. He gave Chizer $38,000.

Chizer, 56, of Pearland, also

pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced in July to two years of federal probation.

The contracting program was set up to benefit businesses owned by injured veterans. In their pleas, the men admitted they deprived legitimate businesses of being awarded those contracts. The contracts are intended for veteran-owned small businesses, and federal agencies can receive credit for hiring those businesses.

According to their pleas, the six-year scam began Nov. 21, 2012, when Guillory and Chizer registered a business, MEP Sales and Service, in Harris County. The following April, they filled out a form claiming Chizer was a service-disabled veteran with majority ownership of the company.

Chizer is disabled and was honorably discharged as a petty officer after serving in the U.S. Navy from 1986 to 1989, according to his attorney. Guillory had majority ownership of the company, even though he claimed on official forms to be a minority owner.

Veteran’s Affairs awarded the company 12 small business setaside contracts with a value of more than $1.6 million.

Guillory’s sentencing was continued to give his lawyers an opportunity to present the argument that five of the 12 government contracts were properly awarded to Guillory, an AfricanAmerican, because he is a minority business owner. The parties later concluded that all 12 contracts were properly included. Guillory requested another continuance for an expert witness to determine the fair market value of the contracts. The judge denied that motion on Thursday.