A husband-and-wife contracting team pleaded guilty today to paying married warfare systems officials thousands of dollars to land government contracts for their company, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
According to their plea agreements, Louis Williams and his wife, Elizabeth Ramos, admitted that from 1999 to 2008, they paid between $200,000 and $400,000 in cash to Gary and Kelly Alexander so Technical Logistics Corp. would get contracted work from SPAWAR, or Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.
As a result, TLC was hired as a subcontractor on several occasions by Computer Sciences Corp. and Kratos Defense and Security Solutions Inc. and was paid a total of $4.8 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
In addition to the cash, the defendants allegedly gave the Alexanders -- who both worked for SPAWAR -- a Rolex watch, expensive dinners, men's clothing and a Palm Springs vacation, in order to maintain the contracts already awarded and to continue receiving additional government work.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Ciaffa said Ramos also admitted in her plea deal that Gary Alexander and contractor Jackie Godwin directed her to hire Sinthia Nares as a TLC employee, to pay her more than $90,000 per year, and to charge her salary to the government through Kratos.
Ramos additionally admitted that Godwin directed her to buy televisions, home theater systems and other audio-visual equipment totaling $13,000, and Godwin falsely billed them to the government as legitimate computer purchases, according to court papers.
TLC is the second contractor to admit paying the Alexanders in order to win government contracts, Ciaffa said. Last August, Pamela Banks admitted shelling out between $70,000 and $120,000 in return for contracts for her company, Advance Technical Solutions, he said.
Banks is serving a two-year federal prison sentence and is cooperating with authorities.
Ramos, Williams, Gary and Kelly Alexander, Godwin and Nares were indicted last month and charged with wire fraud, bribery, and related offenses concerning government contracts administered by SPAWAR.
The Alexanders are also charged with filing false tax returns.
They, along with Godwin and Nares, are scheduled to stand trial in January.
Ramos, 42, and Williams, 43 -- who pleaded guilty to wire fraud -- are scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 8 by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns.
