WASHINGTON—A former Interior Department official who pleaded guilty to creating a lucrative post-retirement consulting position for himself received probation from a federal judge on Friday.
Jimmy W. Mayberry, 65, of Strawn, Texas, given two years of probation and a $2,500 fine by U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. He faced a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Mayberry’s lawyer, Danny C. Onorato, asked for a sentence of probation, since Mayberry wanted to retire so he could take care of his wife, who has congenital heart failure and does not have any mobility in her arms.
Mayberry in July pleaded guilty to violating conflict-of-interest laws.
Mayberry created a company called Federal Business Solutions and was hired by the Interior Department in June 2003 as an independent consultant, a job he helped design and draft the requirements for before retiring from the department five months earlier.
His company was the only applicant of all bidders for the position to receive an “excellent” rating to qualify for the job.
Until January 2003, Mayberry was the special assistant to the Associate Director of Minerals Revenue Management, the division of the Minerals Management Service that manages royalties collected from oil and gas production on federal property on and offshore.
The Minerals Management Service has been accused of mismanaging the collection of fees from oil companies and writing faulty contracts for drilling on government land and offshore.
Mayberry was one of 13 former and current Interior Department employees in Denver and Washington named in an Interior Department report accusing department employees of misconduct. That included influencing contracts—the claim against Mayberry—as well as claims that some employees worked part-time as private oil consultants, accepted gifts and had sexual relationships with oil company employees.
