A former FBI official has pleaded guilty to receiving bribes related to the Pocatello Data Center project and falsifying a federal income tax return.
James Heslep, 51, of Gainesville, Virginia, pleaded guilty to the crimes as part of a plea agreement, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho. He will be sentenced in March.
“Public officials take a solemn oath not to exploit their office for personal gain,” U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis said in the news release. “Mr. Heslep disregarded his ethics training, purposely violated that oath, and compromised the FBI’s contracting process. This case stands as a cautionary warning for other public officials entrusted with influence over government contracts.”
The case was investigated by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.
Officials say Heslep, a management and program analyst with the FBI, was the contracting officer representative for the Pocatello Data Center project and had management and oversight responsibilities during its construction.
“The Pocatello Data Center project involved construction of a two-building, 140,000 square-foot complex that would accommodate data halls containing computer equipment and office space,” according to the news release. “The purpose was to consolidate multiple FBI data centers from across the country and improve efficiency and cyber-security.”
Officials say Heslep accepted $128,128 in illegal payments and items of value from 63-year-old Robert Bailey, a business acquaintance and the owner of L-1, a construction management and operations company based in Chantilly, Virginia.
“These payments included 18 deposits totaling $120,000 into a bank account controlled by Heslep,” according to the news release, which adds that Heslep used the funds to make payments on a personal loan, home mortgage, car, credit card, vacation travel, and other personal expenditures, including a pair of diamond earrings costing $5,300. “In addition, Bailey and L-1 provided the following items of value to Heslep: a fiftieth birthday party in Dallas, Texas, including first-class airfare, hotel accommodations, and tickets to a Dallas Cowboys football game; a beach house rental in Nags Head, North Carolina; first-class Amtrak train tickets; invitations to a L-1 company holiday party; and tickets to a Washington Nationals baseball game, among other gratuities.”
Officials say Bailey and L-1 sought to influence Heslep in performing officials acts at the FBI that would benefit L-1 during the Pocatello Data Center project.
“These official acts included the following: Heslep seeking and receiving authorization for approximately $16,000 monthly per diem payments from the FBI to Bailey for L-1 employees who stayed at Bailey’s house instead of a hotel; Heslep soliciting and including Bailey’s edits in the statement of work to a $12.2 million construction and services bridge contract (related to the Pocatello Data Center project) that the FBI later awarded to S-1 (as general contractor) and L-1 (as subcontractor); and Heslep convincing his FBI superiors to pay L-1 for its work on the bridge contract at higher Washington, D.C. metropolitan-area labor rates, rather than lower Idaho labor rates,” according to the news release. “The Washington D.C. labor rates were approximately 30 percent greater than the Idaho labor rates.”
Heslep faces up to 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for receiving a bribe, according to the news release, which adds that he could also be disqualified from any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States. In addition, Heslep faces up to three years in prison, a $250,000 fine and one year of supervised release for falsifying a federal income tax return.
“We trust public officials to do their work with integrity and honesty. Instead, Heslep abused his position. He accepted bribes of cash, sports tickets, and other items of value in exchange for granting favorable contracting terms,” Douglas B. Bruce, special agent in charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Denver Field Office, said in the news release. “The Office of the Inspector General will continue to root out this kind of behavior.”
Officials say Bailey pleaded guilty to bribing a public official in October. His sentencing is also set to take place in March.