| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | For Information, Contact Public Affairs |
| Thursday, October 7, 2004 | Channing Phillips (202) 514-6933 |
| Former
United States Postal Service contracting official pleads guilty to taking bribes for twelve years; guilty pleas in related bribery and obstruction of justice cases also unsealed |
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Washington, D.C. - United States Attorney Kenneth
L. Wainstein, David C. Williams, Inspector General for the United
States Postal Service, Michael A. Mason, Assistant Director in Charge
of the FBI's Washington Field Office, and Thomas P. Brady, Postal
Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, announced
that today Daniel J. Williams, Jr., 62, of Accokeek, Maryland, pled
guilty to receiving bribes and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Until his retirement on September 1, 2003, Williams was a printing
specialist with the United States Postal Service ("USPS")
at USPS Headquarters in Washington, D.C. During Williams's guilty plea before United States District Judge Henry H. Kennedy, Jr., Williams admitted to taking bribes over a twelve-year period from printing companies seeking printing contracts with the USPS in return for confidential bid information and preferential treatment from Williams. When sentenced on February 11, 2005, Williams faces up to 35 years in prison and a $500,000 fine under the statute. Under the federal sentencing guidelines, Williams faces up to between 46 to 57 months in prison. United States Attorney Wainstein stated, "This case demonstrates how one corrupt public official can have a malignant effect on the integrity of our public contracting system and the private businesses that provide services to the government. Today's guilty plea by defendant Danny Williams marks the end of a brazen bribery scheme that netted him nearly $800,000 in personal profit at the expense of the United States taxpayer. In addition, today's announcement of the guilty pleas by four individual contractors sends the clear message that American companies have an obligation to resist – and report to law enforcement – any criminal overtures they receive from corrupt public officials." The Office of the Inspector General for the United States Postal Service ("USPS-OIG") and the FBI conducted this investigation of the scheme to defraud the USPS by Williams. This joint FBI/USPS-OIG investigation was initiated in August 2003 based on an anonymous hotline complaint received by the USPS in the prior month. The hotline complaint alleged that Williams illegally solicited and received money and gifts from several USPS contractors in return for favorable treatment and contract awards. The subsequent investigation substantiated the allegations. According to the government's evidence presented at the plea hearing and agreed to by the defendant, for the twelve-year period leading up to Williams's retirement, Williams was taking bribes from printing companies. Williams received at least $771,363 from the printing vendors over the course of this bribery scheme. Moreover, Williams took steps, with his tax preparer, to launder those bribery funds, that is, to hide the fact that Williams was receiving this bribe money by setting up shell companies to receive and disburse the money to Williams. The criminal Information filed against Williams charges that he received bribes from the vendors (count one) and that he conspired with his tax preparer to launder the bribe money (count two). There are also two forfeiture allegations in the Information calling for forfeiture of Williams's house, which he paid for with the bribe money, and a residual money forfeiture to cover that amount which cannot be recovered from the sale of other assets belonging to defendant Williams. In the plea agreement, Williams has also agreed to the administrative forfeiture of a Corvette car and a Rolex watch. This criminal investigation has also resulted in guilty pleas from a number of the printing vendors who were seeking and obtaining printing contracts with the USPS through defendant Williams. For some of these vendors, the payments go as far back as 1991. At least four other individuals have previously pleaded guilty in connection with this investigation. They are: Alphonso Slater, 68, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, who pleaded guilty to paying Williams bribes between 1999 and 2003, while employed as a sales representative of Largo Press; Claire Miller, 43, of Stevenson, Maryland, who pleaded guilty to paying Williams bribes between 1999 and 2003, while employed as a sales representative of U.S. Tag & Label; David McNaughton, 60, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who pleaded guilty to paying Williams bribes between 1991 and 2003, while employed as president of Keener Manufacturing Company; and Jeffrey Johnson, 43, of Glenelg, Maryland, who pleaded guilty to paying Williams illegal gratuities between 1999 and 2003, while employed as a sales representative of Todd Allan Printing. In addition, Johnson also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for his role in purposely destroying certain documents that had been the subject of a federal grand jury subpoena. In announcing the guilty plea, United States Attorney Wainstein, Inspector General Williams, Inspector in Charge Brady, and Assistant Director in Charge Mason commended the diligent, persistent and hard work on this matter by the investigators in this matter, especially Special Agents Brian Cropper and Barry Grzechowiak of the USPS Inspector General's Office, FBI Special Agents Timothy R. Thibault and Debra LaPrevotte, and Postal Inspector Judy Ramos. In addition, they commended the efforts of legal assistants April Peeler and Teesha Tobias and Assistant United States Attorneys Steven J. Durham, Daniel P. Butler, and Linda McKinney, who are prosecuting the case. |
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