NEW ORLEANS — A LaPlace man was sentenced to a year in prison this week for his role in fraudulently collecting more $60,000 following the disastrous BP oil spill of 2010.

Hardell Mack, 44, was sentenced Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) in the aftermath of the BP oil spill, U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite said.

U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance sentenced Mack to 12 months and one day incarceration and ordered restitution in the amount of $65,300 be paid jointly and severally with his co-defendant.

A Department of Justice spokesperson identified the co-defendant as Michegel Butler, adding Butler’s case is ongoing.

Mack was indicted Dec. 19, 2014, and pleaded guilty Aug. 5, 2015.

According to court documents, beginning in or about September 2010, Mack and Butler recruited claimants, requested their personal information and submitted or caused to be submitted fraudulent GCCF claim forms generated online and transmitted to the GCCF.

Polite said the claim forms falsely stated the claimants worked as non-owner captain/deckhands on a shrimp boat in Venice, La., and suffered economic loss. Based on the fraudulent documentation, GCCF issued approximately $65,300 to undeserving individuals.

Mack and Butler shared in the claims proceeds, Polite said.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Secret Service were praised in investigating this matter. Assistant U. S. Attorney Julia K. Evans was in charge of this prosecution.