East Texans Charged in Red River Army Depot Conspiracy

East Texans Charged in Red River Army Depot Conspiracy

East Texans Charged in Red River Army Depot Conspiracy

U.S. Attorney’s Office
1 October 2014

TEXARKANA, TX—U.S. Attorney John M. Bales and Colonel Brandon Grubbs, Red River Army Depot Installation Commander, announced today that seven individuals have been indicted on federal charges involving conspiracy to commit an offense and to defraud the U.S. government and theft of government property or money in the Eastern District of Texas.

The defendants were named in a 2-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Sep. 17, 2014, charging them with conspiracy to commit an offense against and to defraud the U.S. government and theft of government property or money. These violations are alleged to have caused over $2 million in losses to the Department of the Army and Red River Army Depot. Those charged are:

Kenneth Ray Shackelford, 54, of Texarkana, Texas
Anthony Paul Vera, 54, of Dekalb, Texas
Shaun Dennis Knorr, 35, of Douglasville, Texas
Patrick Ray James, 54, of Hooks, Texas
William Robert Barr, 56, of Atlanta, Texas
Rodney Glen Cornelius, 63, of Queen City, Texas
William Randall Scott, 59, of Dekalb, Texas

The indictment was unsealed today and the defendants are scheduled to make initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven on Oct. 2, 2014.

Red River Army Depot (RRAD) is a Department of the Army installation in Bowie County, Texas, that employs a large civilian workforce. RRAD’s primary mission is to repair tactical vehicles for the military. RRAD maintains a fleet of tractor-trailers to bring tactical vehicles to and from RRAD for them to be repaired.

Benny Woodard, deceased, of Dekalb, Texas, was an Army civilian employee at RRAD who was responsible for the maintenance of the fleet of tractor-trailers. According to the indictment, it is alleged that beginning in January 2007 until the time of his death in April 2013, Benny Woodard conspired with other RRAD employees and local vendors in the Texarkana area to defraud the Department of the Army by billing RRAD for tires and parts never received and for services never rendered. Shackelford, Vera, Knorr, James, and Barr are vendors of tires, parts, and repair services in the Texarkana area that are alleged to have conspired with Benny Woodard in the alleged scheme. Cornelius and Scott were RRAD civilian employees who are alleged to have facilitated the scheme at the direction of Benny Woodard.

If convicted of conspiracy to commit an offense against or defraud the U.S. government, the defendants each face up to five years in federal prison. If convicted of theft of government property or money, the defendants each face up to 10 years in federal prison.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of the Army Criminal Investigations Division, and the Red River Army Depot Criminal Investigations Division. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Ryan Locker.

An indictment is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.