Lorain man pleads guilty in $400,000, seven-year USDA hiring kickback scheme

A Lorain man who is a former U.S. Department of Agriculture program director has pleaded guilty to federal charges that he hired his nephew in a kickback scheme and billed the government for $400,000 worth of work that was never done. Kirk Perry, 60, pleaded guilty Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in the District of Columbia to conspiracy to commit money, property and honest services wire fraud. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 4. Perry admitted he and his nephew, Jamarea Grant, 31, of Cleveland, conspired to bill the government nearly $400,000 for work that Grant did not actually perform after Petty arranged for him to be hired by two companies that had contracts with the USDA Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. Grant pleaded guilty in November to the same charge his uncle did on Tuesday. His sentencing date is pending. Federal authorities said both men could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. Perry and Grant admitted that from August 2015 through November 2022, Perry arranged for Grant to be hired by two companies under contract with the USDA. Grant reported directly to Perry, who also approved the invoices billing for Grant's time, and the two of them conspired to bill the government for work that Grant didn't do. Grant got nearly $400,000 for that work. Perry, who had access to Grant's bank account, transferred approximately $125,000 of the USDA payments from Grant's account to his own. This case was investigated by the USDA Office of Inspector General Sensitive Investigations Office. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Edward R. Martin Jr. and Special Agent in Charge Jeldrys Lowry of the USDA Office of Inspector General announced the plea in a news release. A former attorney, Perry commuted from Ohio to Washington from 2015 to 2020 until he began working remotely from Ohio — apparently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His office was responsible for making sure the USDA complied with civil rights laws, regulations and policies about equal treatment for USDA customers and employees and to review Equal Employment Opportunity complaints against the USDA. Perry got Grant hired without a background, education or experience in equal employment opportunity matters, federal authorities said. Grant never was issued an access card to USDA offices, nor any government equipment, email address or user ID for computer systems. From 2015 to 2018, Grant reported directly to Perry and did "little to none" of the work required under his contract while allegedly falsifying work hours. The two men also allegedly exchanged emails with phony work assignments in them. After passing the Ohio bar in 1992, Perry's law license was suspended by the Ohio Supreme Court in 1999 after he was found guilty of misconduct. He also was convicted of misdemeanor falsification in Oberlin Municipal Court in 1999 for lying on a financial disclosure form, according to court records.