February 24, 10

NEWS / Former U.S. Army Master Sergeant Convicted of Converting Public Funds and Making False Statements

Defendant Found Guilty as Charged by Federal Jury

CHARLOTTE, NC—Dyrrle Gene Osborne, 60, of Charlotte, and a former U.S. Army Master Sergeant, was convicted today by a jury in U.S. District Court of criminal charges that include converting public funds and making false statements to the FBI, to a U.S. Army Board, and to a U.S. Major General. The jury convicted the defendant after a day-long trial and an hour of deliberations. The defendant was charged in four criminal counts in a federal bill of indictment in October 2009. Today’s announcement is made by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Ryan for the Western District of North Carolina, and Owen D. Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte Division of FBI.

According to U.S. Attorney Ryan and the evidence at trial, Dyrrle Gene Osborne received approximately $100,000 in active duty payments after he separated from the U.S. Army and was no longer on active duty. Trial testimony and evidence showed that Osborne was overpaid from June 2005 through December 2006 and further, that he neither returned nor saved the money but rather that he spent it. The jury found the defendant guilty on all counts: Count One, converting public funds; and Counts Two through Four, making false statements to the FBI, to the Board of the U.S. Army conducting his separation hearing, and to a Major General of the U.S. Army.

Osborne faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison on the converting public funds count (Count One), alone. In addition, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison as to each of the three counts of making a false statement. There is no parole in the federal criminal system.

Evidence presented at trial also showed that the investigation was handled by the FBI. The case was prosecuted for the government by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kurt W. Meyers from the Charlotte U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.

Defendant Dyrrle Gene Osborne currently awaits sentencing in U.S. District Court on a $25,000 appearance bond. Osborne’s sentencing date has not yet been set.

http://charlotte.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/ce022310.htm