Civilian Employee at Aberdeen Proving Ground Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribes (re contracts)

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/civilian-employee-aberdeen-proving-ground-pleads-guilty-accepting-bribes-exchange

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Maryland

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 23, 2017

Civilian Employee at Aberdeen Proving Ground Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribes in Exchange for Favorable Actions on Contracts

Baltimore, Maryland – Rainier Ramos, age 50, of Bel Air, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to bribery in connection with his duties at the U.S. Army Public Health Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
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According to Ramos’ plea agreement, he was a civilian information technology professional at the U.S. Army Public Health Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG). Beginning in 2009, Ramos solicited and accepted bribes from the owner and CEO of an information technology company headquartered in McLean, Virginia (the Company). Specifically, Ramos admitted that he sought and accepted, among other things, meals and drinks, rounds of golf, tickets to sporting events, and gift cards. The sporting events included courtside seats to Washington Wizards basketball games, football tickets and access to the company’s luxury suite for Washington Redskins games at FedEx field, tickets to the see the New Orleans Saints play at the Mercedes Benz Dome in New Orleans, and tickets to see the New Orleans Hornets basketball team in New Orleans. In exchange, Ramos admitted that he took official actions favorable to the Company and the owner in relation to the MEDCOM contract, which was worth more than $50 million.
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For example, in exchange for bribes from the Company’s owner, Ramos sought contracting opportunities at APG in the spring and summer of 2010, that would allow the Company to develop a track record of performance, in order to increase the likelihood that the Company would be awarded the MEDCOM contract when it was recompeted in 2011. Ramos admitted that he took the following actions in exchange for bribes: influenced the award of a contract to the Company to deploy and configure 70 desktop and laptop computers at APG; recommended that the MEDCOM contract be reserved for companies that were part of the U.S. Small Business Administration 8(a) program, - a significant benefit to the Company as a certified 8(a) business; provided the owner of the Company with the winning proposal of the previous contractor on the MEDCOM contract, including pricing data, which was sensitive, proprietary information; and helped write the Statement of Work for the MEDCOM contract to increase the likelihood that the Company would be awarded that contract. On May 20, 2010, in an email to the owner of the Company, Ramos stated, “If there’s any way you can pull off a miracle and switch the 10 Eagles/Skins tickets you have already acquired for 10 Skins/Cowboys tickets, I’ll owe you some serious 8A business. . . . Thanks again for EVERYTHING.”

In August 2011, the solicitation for the MEDCOM contract was issued, and Ramos was selected as the Chairman of the Source Selection Board. In early 2012, Ramos recommended that the contract be awarded to the Company. After the Company was awarded the contract, Ramos approved invoices submitted by the Company under the contract. As of July 2016, the Company was paid almost $37 million by the U.S. government for invoices submitted under the MEDCOM contract.
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