Investigators say a lawyer for the U.S. Marshals Service used government cars and armed deputies to drive himself and broadcasters to major sporting events like the Super Bowl and the World Series.
A report issued Monday by the Justice Department's inspector general was highly critical of the lawyer, Joseph Band, who worked in the agency's Washington office.
Band also worked as a part-time statistician for Fox Sports, and he came under scrutiny after he received rides to two World Series games in 2007 in Boston, as well as the 2008 Super Bowl in Phoenix. The report issued Monday by Inspector General Glenn Fine found Band sometimes got escorts not just for himself, but for broadcasters as well. Fox Sports spokesman Dan Bell said company officials were unaware "that those arrangements were in any way inappropriate, and regret to learn now that they apparently were." Fine said use of armed government agents as a VIP car service violates ethical standards, and U.S. Marshals in the cities Band visited should not have agreed to his requests. Band "regularly and inappropriately solicited and received assistance of (marshal service) resources for his personal activities, in violation of government ethical rules," the report concluded. |
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