Former Army Contractor Sentenced To Federal Prison For Bribery Scheme
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A former army contractor was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for bribery scheme involving contracts at Aberdeen Proving Grounds.
Matthew Barrow, 45, of Toledo, Ohio, was sentenced to 30 months followed by three years of supervised release on bribery charges related to contracting at the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Grounds.
Co-defendants John Kays, 45, of Pinehurst, North Carolina and his wife, Danielle Kays, 44, are currently serving federal prison sentences of six years and 18 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the scheme.
The court previously issued an order that the defendants forfeit $1,487,135.52, as well as vehicles and a boat.
According to court documents, John Kays, Danielle Kays, and Barrow all graduated together from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
In 2008, John Kays and Danielle Kays held leadership positions as civilian employees in the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM), representing the Army in multi-year contracts.
Barrow worked for a glass manufacturer in Toledo, Ohio. Barrow formed a company called MJ-6, to which John Kays admitted that he steered CECOM subcontracts in exchange for money.
According to Barrow's plea agreement, in March 2006, the U.S. Army Contracting Command at APG awarded a 10-year, $19.2 billion contract to seven prime contractors to provide technology services to support the integrated engineering, business operations, and logistics needs for the Army.
Former Army officials John and Danielle Kays each had leadership positions related to this contract. From September 2006 through April 2011, a series of task orders for services pursuant to the contract were placed.
From August 2008 to June 2014, John Kays agreed to take official actions favorable to Barrow and MJ-6 in return for Barrow paying them a total of approximately $800,000.
Danielle Kays has admitted using her official position to benefit Barrow and MJ-6 during the period from 2011 to 2014.
Specifically, the Kays' used their official positions to add MJ-6 as a subcontractor acceptable to the Army, steer potential employees for government contractors to work for MJ-6.
Total contracts steered to MJ-6 by the Kayse's exceeded $21 million.
To conceal the scheme, John and Danielle Kays made false statements on the government ethics forms that they were required to file by failing to disclose the cash payments received from Barrow.
The Kays' used the cash for their personal benefit, including payments for home renovations, two new automobiles, a powerboat, jewelry, a pool party at their country club and credit card bills.
Barrow later agreed to pay the Kays' the proceeds of the scheme from MJ-6 disguised as employment salary.
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