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Investigations

Date

Former Florida DOT Employee Sentenced for Conspiracy To Commit Federal Program Theft

On August 7, 2018, Tracy Tronco was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Tampa, Florida , to 36 months’ probation, 6 months’ home confinement, $295,891.65 in restitution, and forfeiture of property up to the value of $373,602.42. Tronco is a former transit coordinator and passenger operations specialist for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). She was sentenced for her role in a conspiracy to commit Federal program theft. Tronco and her spouse, Alejo Tronco-Diaz, had been indicted in July 2017.
 
Tronco and Tronco-Diaz had joint ownership in Ebenezer Church (Ebenezer) and Ministerio A Gran Voz De Trompeta Campus, Inc. (Ministerio). Via FDOT, these organizations received $250,000 in FTA grants for programs that provide transportation for low income, disabled, and elderly individuals.
 
In November 2017, Tronco pled guilty for using her authority as an FDOT employee to bypass the grant award process to receive grants for Ministerio and Ebenezer. She and Tronco-Diaz submitted checks to FDOT indicating that they made payments for real property, services, and materials. However, the checks did not clear, and Tronco and Tronco-Diaz never actually procured the property, services, and materials. According to the indictment, Tronco and Tronco-Diaz also falsely represented to FDOT that they used grant funds to acquire vehicles to provide transportation services, but the vehicles were for their personal use. They also falsely represented that they had incurred expenses for the vehicles’ preventative maintenance and repair.
 
DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with the FBI and FDOT-OIG, with assistance from FTA.