The Justice Department and several of its agencies engaged in “extravagant and wasteful” spending on food, beverages and event planning for law enforcement conferences, including paying $16 each for muffins, $76 per person for lunch and more than $8 for a cup of coffee, according to an audit released Tuesday by the department’s Office of Inspector General.

At one conference, a workshop on enhancing judicial skills, participants were served snacks of Cracker Jack, popcorn and candy during a break, costing $32 a person, and also were provided a “deluxe” ice cream assortment that cost $10 per person. The 166 people attending a separate conference of U.S. attorneys were fed beef Wellington appetizers at $7.32 per serving.

“Some conferences featured costly meals, refreshments and themed breaks that we believe were indicative of wasteful or extravagant spending,” said acting Inspector General Cynthia A. Schnedar. The report says the department “did not adequately attempt to minimize conference costs as required by federal and DOJ guidelines.”

The audit also is critical of money the Justice Department spent on event planners for some of the conferences, describing as an “unallowable cost” the hiring of a consultant in Anchorage, Alaska, to act as the liaison for a conference being held at a hotel in Palm Springs, Calif.

Because the consultant was based in Anchorage, the audit says, he had to travel the 2,400 miles to Palm Springs at least three times and subsequently billed the department $3,454 in travel costs. The audit also criticizes the $29,000 cost of travel, lodging and food and beverages for a face-to-face meeting in Palm Springs a year before the conference with members of the consultant’s firm. It describes that as “unreasonable.”

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