ALEXANDRIA, VA — A Stafford County man pleaded guilty Monday to stealing more than $107,000 in federal travel funds by using his access to a government reimbursement system to redirect payments into his own bank accounts, according to federal court records.
Kevin D. Mickie, 47, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria to one count of theft of government property. U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles accepted the plea and released Mickie on a personal recognizance bond pending sentencing, court records show. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 14, 2027.
Mickie admitted that from November 2019 through January 2024 he diverted $107,316.82 in government travel reimbursements into two personal bank accounts. The criminal information charges that the money belonged to the Department of War.
According to the statement of facts signed by Mickie, he lived in Stafford County and worked remotely for a government contracting company that provided technical support to federal agencies. From November 2019 through about February 2023, Mickie was assigned to a contract supporting the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
As part of his job, Mickie managed profiles in the Defense Travel System, or DTS, the federal platform used to manage and reimburse official government travel. His administrative access allowed him to view accounts, reset credentials and change profile information, including bank and disbursement details.
Mickie admitted accessing 29 DTS profiles without permission and replacing the legitimate account holders' bank and routing numbers with his own. That caused subsequent travel reimbursements to be deposited into Mickie's accounts, according to the statement of facts.
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Federal prosecutors said Mickie diverted the money in two ways. He either altered legitimate travel vouchers so that part of an employee's reimbursement went to him or created fictitious travel authorizations and vouchers for trips that never occurred.
Mickie also admitted changing the email addresses associated with compromised accounts to his personal email address. That caused system-generated notifications about voucher submissions, approvals and payments to go to him rather than the legitimate account holders.
Court documents provide one example from January 2022. Mickie changed the bank information and email address on one person's DTS profile on Jan. 11, 2022. The next day, he submitted a fictitious travel voucher for $3,180.68 in the person's name for a trip that never occurred. Two days later, the money was deposited into Mickie's bank account, according to the statement of facts.
Although Mickie stopped working for the contractor in February 2023, the theft continued until January 2024 because some of the account holders did not know their banking information had been changed. When they later traveled and submitted expenses, portions of their reimbursements continued going to Mickie's account, according to court records.
In his signed statement of facts, Mickie stipulated that his actions resulted in $107,316.82 in unauthorized government travel reimbursements being transferred into his personal accounts and that his conduct was knowing and deliberate.
Under the plea agreement, Mickie agreed to pay restitution for the victims' losses. The agreement identifies the Department of War as being owed at least $107,316.82. Mickie also agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of at least the same amount, representing proceeds he personally obtained from the offense.
Mickie faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, restitution, forfeiture and up to three years of supervised release. The plea agreement says the actual sentence will be determined by the court. 189115469782.pdfPDF
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said Homeland Security Investigations in Washington assisted in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McManigal is prosecuting the case.
The Justice Department said the prosecution is part of the Trump administration's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a federal initiative focused on fraud, waste and abuse in government programs.
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