Marietta Man Pleads Guilty to Soliciting and Accepting a Kickback

AUGUSTA, GA—Edmund A. Booth, Jr., United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, announced today that MICHAEL CRAIG WATERS, a Marietta, Georgia resident, entered a guilty plea to soliciting and accepting a kickback, in violation of Title 44, United States Code, Sections 53 and 54, before U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall.

Booth stated that the evidence at the guilty plea hearing showed that between August 28, 2008 and October 10, 2008, WATERS, while working as an employee of IAP World Services, a subcontractor of Akima Facilities Management LLC, a prime contractor for the United States Department of Defense at Fort Gordon, solicited and accepted a kickback in the amount of $1,500.00, from an employee of a lower-tiered subcontractor for the purpose of improperly rewarding and obtaining favorable treatment in connection with that subcontracting work. Specifically, WATERS asked a lower-tiered subcontractor who had submitted a proposal to do work at Fort Gordon to add an additional $3,000.00 to his bid proposal, in order for the overage to be split between WATERS and that subcontractor on a 50/50 basis. The subcontractor contacted investigators about the solicitation. The evidence also showed that the investigators monitored the delivery of a $1,500 check from the subcontractor to WATERS who was immediately arrested by federal agents.

Booth added that the statutory maximum penalty for such a crime is 10 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date will be set following completion of a pre-sentence investigation and report.

The investigation leading to WATERS’ arrest, indictment, and conviction was conducted by special agents with the Procurement Fraud Unit, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Augusta. The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorney Nancy C. Greenwood.