A Casa Grande Border Patrol agent who was paid $56 an hour pleaded guilty to filing a false time card to inflate his work hours, court documents show.
JoeRay Galvan was accused of claiming he worked 100 hours in each of four pay periods in late 2017, when he actually never worked more than 80½ hours in each two-week pay period. At his hourly wage of $56, he allegedly stole $6,882.
A federal grand jury indicted Galvan in February on one count of conversion of U.S. property and four counts of making false entries in accounts and records.
He pleaded guilty Aug. 3 to a misdemeanor charge of converting $983 of U.S. property to his own use. He faces an unspecified period of probation and must pay $6,882 to the U.S. government. As part of his plea agreement, he also must resign from the Border Patrol prior to his Aug. 24 sentencing in U.S. District Court in Tucson.
In his plea agreement, Galvan admitted to claiming he worked 10 hours on Nov. 20, 2017, when he actually worked one hour. He then claimed he worked 10 hours the next day, but only worked 1½ hours. After filing his time card, he was paid $983 for the 17½ hours he did not work on those two days.
Galvan was accused of filing four time cards from November 2017 to January 2018 saying he worked 100 hours in each two-week pay period, according to the indictment. He worked 80 hours during one of those pay periods. For the others, he worked 77 hours, 67 hours, and 52 hours.
In a Feb. 14 motion, federal prosecutor Wallace Kleindienst said the case should be sealed because Galvan was a fugitive. Galvan was arrested two days later in Eloy. He was released Feb. 20 on his own recognizance and remains out of custody, court records show.
Galvan’s defense lawyer could not be reached for comment. The Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector did not respond to a request for information about Galvan’s status with the agency.
