Ex-federal employee gets 6 years for bribery scheme tied to millions in defense contracts

A former Naval Information Warfare Center employee was sentenced to six years in prison for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from defense contractors.SAN DIEGO (CN) — A former federal employee and public official at the Naval Information Warfare Center in San Diego was sentenced to prison Wednesday for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in a case that involved multiple contractors seeking lucrative government work.In a plea agreement, James Soriano, 65, admitted he accepted bribes from defense contractors including lavish meals, employment opportunities for friends and family, and tickets to sporting events in exchange for help to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts. He also admitted to filing false tax returns connected to the bribes.U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson, a Donald Trump appointee, sentenced Soriano to six years in prison. The judge also ordered Soriano to give up more than $209,527 and pay $18,722 to the Internal Revenue Service.Soriano pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and false statements in tax returns.According to the plea agreement, Soriano accepted bribes from different defense contractors going back to at least 2014 and continued for several years.“Corruption in federal procurement undermines fair competition and cheats law-abiding businesses,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Adam Gordon said in a press release from the Department of Justice. “This is a strong sentence that proves corrupt officials will be held accountable.”In the plea agreement, Soriano said that he and a co-worker, Dawnell Parker, received bribes from Philip Flores, the president and CEO of Intellipeak Solutions, Inc. between March 2016 and October 2019.Additionally, Soriano pleaded guilty to receiving bribes from Russell Thurston, the vice president of Cambridge International Systems between June 2014 and October 2019.The Department of Justice said he also accepted bribes from defense contractors in San Diego and Stafford, Virginia, between May 2015 and October 2019.Some of the gifts included MLB All-Star Game tickets, Super Bowl tickets, meals that cost several hundred dollars and golfing trips at a private country club, among other things. In one case, Soriano used his position to help a family friend, Liberty Gutierrez, secure a job at Cambridge in exchange for $2,000 in monthly payments to him — which he did not disclose in tax documents.In return, Soriano would steer defense contracts to these contractors while keeping his activities secret from the Naval Information Warfare Center. Cambridge was awarded more than $100 million in government contracts and task orders, the plea agreement says.Soriano began work at the center as an engineer and project lead going back to 2006. Part of his role included his duty as a contracting officer representative, which gave him the ability to influence defense contracts during the procurement process.Soriano took official action to aid the defense contractors, according to the plea agreement. This included allowing contractors to draft government documents in competitive and noncompetitive procurements, submitting those documents as part of the procurement process, and advocating for their selection as defense contractors.The Naval Information Warfare Center, formerly SPAWAR, is a division of the Navy that focuses on engineering, research, information technology and cybersecurity that employs a large number of civilians.“The sentencing of Mr. Soriano should serve as a deterrent to anyone seeking to enrich themselves through fraudulent contracting practices,” said John Helsing, special agent-in-charge for the Department of War Office of Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service in the DOJ release. “This type of criminal behavior undermines the Department of War’s procurement system and erodes public trust.”A spokesperson for Soriano did not respond to requests for comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads