A Maryland woman was sentenced earlier this month for conspiracy to defraud the government out of thousands of dollars between 2014 and 2018, which was used for various trips — including 31 visits to Orlando, Florida and Walt Disney World Resort.

Couple Defrauds Government for Disney World Trips

According to a press release, Chantelle Boyd, 53, of Woodsboro, Md., was sentenced to six months of home confinement, followed by two years of supervised release. Boyd pled guilty to one count of conspiracy and 10 counts of theft of government funds and false declarations.

Boyd was arrested and charged in July 2020, along with co-defendant and boyfriend Thomas Bouchard, 61. He pled guilty in April 2023 and was ordered by a judge to pay $487,658.87 in restitution and sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by one year of supervised release.

Bouchard was the Contracting Officer in charge of the U.S. Army Natick Contracting Division, which is a full-service contracting organization for the Department of Defense. According to court documents, Bouchard hired Boyd in 2014 for a “no-show” job as his assistant. Boyd’s position cost the government nearly $500,000 from 2014-2018, where she “performed little if any useful function.”

Bouchard and Boyd took multiple government-funded vacations, ranging from two to 15 days in length, claiming that they were work-related. These vacations included 31 trips to Orlando, Florida, which included visits to Walt Disney World Resort and its theme parks, in which Boyd “allegedly performed little if any work.” For many of these trips, the couple shared a hotel room and spent time at the pool “during business hours.”

Other vacations included visits to Clearwater Beach, Fla., Stafford, Va., Maryland, and Alabama. To conceal the personal nature of these vacations, Bouchard “altered, created, and approved false travel to reimburse Boyd for out-of-pocket expenses.”

Representatives for Boyd, Bouchard, the U.S. Army Natick Contracting Division, and the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Massachusetts did not respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment.

Source: Justice.gov, Business Insider

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