She said, "Dad, call when it lands. I will fly to Cheyenne." The next morning, Marray filed a preemptive notice of recusal with the District of Wyoming federal court regarding any current or future case involving Lieutenant Colonel Pearson Pendergast, his wife Brian Pendergast, the Sentinel Ridge Estates HOA, or Sentinel Ridge Properties LLC. Her notice was recorded by the federal court clerk that afternoon. The recusal eliminated any future appearance of conflict between Morel's judicial position and my command position, regardless of what AFOSI's investigation produced.
That same afternoon, Colonel Aurora Reinholm at AFOSI Detachment 803 began the formal interview process with Lieutenant Colonel Pete Pendergast. The first interview was scheduled for 900 hours Monday morning at AFOSI offices on the base. Pete was advised he had the right to consult military counsel before the interview. He requested Air Force Trial Defense Council. His request was granted.
The interview was scheduled for 900 hours Wednesday morning the following week. Pete did not appear for the interview. Pete's car remained parked at his Sentinel Ridge Estates residence. Brianie Pendergast went to the Cheyenne Police Department on Friday afternoon and filed a missing person's report on her own husband. Lieutenant Colonel Pete Pendergast was located by FE Warren security forces at the Holiday in Express on Lincoln Way in Cheyenne at 4:15 Saturday afternoon.
He was alone in a single room. He had been there since Friday night. He had checked in under his own name with his Air Force ID card. He had been awake for 31 hours. He had not eaten.
He surrendered without incident. Colonel Aurora Reinholm at AFOSI Detachment 803 interviewed him at AFOSI offices Sunday morning at 0900. He had military trial defense council present. He cooperated fully. He gave AFOSI a complete written statement by Sunday evening.
The statement ran 43 pages. He had been receiving undisclosed referral payments from Sentinel Ridge Properties LLC for 38 months. The payments had totaled $94,000. The payments had been made in exchange for his use of his position on the 90th Missile Wing operations staff to encourage FE Warren assigned Air Force personnel to select Sentinel Ridge estates as their off-base housing. He had specifically recommended Sentinel Ridge to 91 currently or formerly assigned FE Warren personnel between September of 2021 and December of 2024.
43 of those 91 had moved into Sentinel Ridge Estates. All 43 were drawing basic allowance for housing at maximum FE Warren rates. Sentinel Ridge Estates rents had been priced since the original development opening at approximately 11% above the comparable Cheyenne market rate for equivalent housing. The total above market revenue extracted from the Air Force BAH program through this scheme over 38 months, approximately $2.7 million. The Air Force BAH program is funded by United States taxpayers.
Sentinel Ridge Properties LLC was in effect defrauding the federal taxpayer by approximately $90,000 per month using Lieutenant Colonel Pendergast's military authority as the marketing channel. Pete Pendergast's federal honest services fraud exposure was conservatively 10 years federal. He surrendered his Air Force commission in writing on Sunday evening at 2100 hours. He pleaded guilty under a pre-court marshall cooperation agreement on Monday morning. His Air Force career, after 23 years of service, ended in a single signature.