4 in Army bid-rigging case agree to jail

[unhappycamper]

4 in Army bid-rigging case agree to jail
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Sep 21, 2007 7:03:55 EDT

SAN ANTONIO — Four men charged in a bid-rigging scheme to win $79 million in contracts from the U.S. Army Medical Command have reached plea agreements that includes prison time, federal prosecutors said.

Authorities say the men got roughly $3.6 million in profits by tainting contracts to take advantage of laws that give minority-owned and small disadvantaged businesses a leg up on computer and technology contracts for Army hospitals.

To win the contracts, investigators said, the group would structure requirements narrowly so that only hand-picked companies could get them, or they would falsify bids to make it appear that companies were competing against one another even though they were working together.

William John “Bill” Strout Sr.; his son, William John “Will” Strout Jr.; Ignacio “Nacho” Ruelas Torres; and Johnnie Flores are scheduled to enter their pleas Sept. 28 or later at hearings in U.S. District Court, according to documents filed in federal court.

The elder Strout, 57, was a contracting officer at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Torres, 53, was a private contract employee assigned to the medical command, headquartered at the post.

According to court document, the two agreed to formally admit using their positions to manipulate and steer contracts for computer equipment and technology for the Army to companies they controlled or were allied with. Most of the contracts were awarded between 2002 and 2005 for computer-related work, equipment or services at nearly 20 Army hospitals.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/09/ap_bidrigging_070921/