Ex-Army staff sergeant sentenced in $100K funeral honors fraud

A former Army pay technician who submitted more than $100,000 in false claims for military funeral honors ceremonies that never happened was sentenced to probation and ordered to perform community service and repay the government, the Justice Department has announced.

Christopher O’Connor, a former staff sergeant, was sentenced last week in a New Orleans federal court to five years of probation, 100 hours of community service and payment of $98,691 in restitution, U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle announced Tuesday.

Under an agreement signed in October 2023, O’Connor pleaded guilty to conspiracy for submitting fraudulent reimbursement requests for military funeral honors duties that he and six other Army reservists had claimed to have performed between 2013 and 2016 but had not.

Families can request the funeral honors for active-duty service members, retirees and veterans, including the folding and presentation of an American flag to the family and the playing of taps as a tribute for their loved one’s service.

In return for a cut of their proceeds, O’Connor proposed submitting false reimbursement requests on behalf of the six others for funeral honors duties that were not authorized and not performed, prosecutors said in a 2021 indictment of all seven soldiers. O’Connor also submitted over $18,800 in pay requests for himself.

All seven served with the 377th Theater Sustainment Command. O’Connor submitted their reimbursement requests without supervisors’ approval or signed forms stating who performed at which funeral, and without records indicating the events had actually happened, prosecutors have said.

After an Army investigation, O’Connor had been demoted to private before being discharged in April 2019 “under other than honorable conditions,” court records state.

All seven reservists, who had been stationed at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, were charged with conspiracy and theft of government funds for their roles in the scheme, which stole nearly $101,900 in Army funds.

The order handed down Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown is the sixth sentence stemming from that indictment, after the charges against one of the former soldiers were dismissed in April.

In February 2025, Cody Francis was ordered to repay nearly $11,400 and perform 100 hours of community service for his role in the scheme. The former Army specialist also received one year of probation, which was later doubled for violating terms of the agreement.

Four other soldiers who pleaded guilty in 2023 also were sentenced to a combination of probation, unpaid community service and restitution.

Leroy Daniels Jr., a former specialist, in April 2025 received a sentence of 2.5 years of probation, 100 hours of community service and payment of nearly $11,700 in restitution.

Derrick Branch, a former sergeant, who took home some $15,000, received a sentence in January 2024 for two years of probation, repayment of his share of the proceeds and 50 hours of community service.

Chantelle Davis, formerly a specialist in the reserves, was ordered in June 2023 to serve 2 years of probation and do 100 hours of community service in addition to paying back the about $8,400 that made up her share of the scheme.

That same month, former Staff Sgt. Lynea Sanders was sentenced to three years of probation, 150 hours of community service and repayment of $21,800 in restitution.

The court found in March that one of the soldiers, former reservist Terrance Howard, was not mentally competent to stand trial. Later, Brown granted prosecutors’ request to dismiss charges against him.

Court records filed last week show that as of his sentencing, O’Connor had already paid back nearly $16,400 in restitution.