The Justice Department announced their arrest and indictment on 15 federal charges today (emphasis mine):
San Juan, Puerto Rico:
" Ahsha Nateef Tribble, a FEMA Region II, Deputy Regional Administrator; Donald Keith Ellison, former President of Cobra Acquisitions, LLC; and Jovanda R. Patterson, a.k.a. “Jo/Jojo,” former FEMA Deputy Chief of Staff, have been indicted and arrested on charges of: conspiracy to commit bribery of public officials; acts affecting a personal financial interest; false statements; disaster fraud; honest services wire fraud, Travel Act violations, and wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez of the District of Puerto Rico. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG), conducted the investigation with support from the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
The indictment alleges that the defendants used Tribble’s positions in FEMA to benefit and enrich themselves and defraud the United States. Following the passage of Hurricane María over Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, Ahsha Nateef Tribble, Donald Keith Ellison, and Jovanda R. Patterson came to Puerto Rico as part of the recovery and restoration of Puerto Rico’s electric power grid. In Tribble’s position as Sector Lead and Deputy Director, she reported directly to the Federal Coordinating Officer and was FEMA’s primary leader as to the restoration of electric power on the island. "
Count 1 of the Indictment charges Tribble and Ellison with a conspiracy to commit bribery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 based on soliciting and giving things of value to Tribble in order to influence Tribble’s performance of official acts as a FEMA employee. To further the conspiracy, Tribble and Ellison communicated using private email accounts, private cellular telephones, including a disposable prepaid cellular number, Apple iMessage, and SMS texts rather than FEMA issued email accounts or cellular telephones."
Read the rest here
