Former Virginia Subcontractor Pleads Guilty to Bribery Offenses

Dwayne Allen Hardman, 44, of Charleston, West Virginia, pleaded guilty today to paying bribes to public officials.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Dana J. Boente, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Special Agent in Charge Robert Craig of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service Mid-Atlantic Field Office (DCIS); Acting Executive Assistant Director Charles T. May, Jr. of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Atlantic Operations; and Special Agent in Charge Royce E. Curtin of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas E. Miller in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Hardman was charged by criminal information on February 12, 2014, with paying a bribe to public officials. Hardman faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced on June 6, 2014.

According to a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, in November 2004, Hardman and another businessman established a government contracting corporation in Chesapeake, Virginia, to provide support to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) on various telecommunications projects. Shortly thereafter, in early 2005, Hardman and his business partner agreed to pay cash bribes to two MSC officials in exchange for official action to steer government contracts to Hardman’s corporation. From March 2005 and until 2007, Hardman, his business partner, and others paid the MSC officials approximately $3,000 each month in cash bribes. During this time, Hardman and his business partner withdrew approximately $144,000 in cash, which was then provided to the two MSC officials in exchange for their assistance in securing MSC contracting and subcontracting business for Hardman’s company.

According to court documents, in February 2009, Hardman left his former business and formed another government contracting company in Chesapeake with another businessman. The two MSC officials again agreed to steer contracting work to Hardman’s new company in exchange for receiving bribes from Hardman and his new business partner. In May 2009, Hardman and his new business partner paid each of the two MSC officials $25,000 in cash bribes.

On February 12, 2014, one of the MSC officials, Kenny Toy, who was the afloat programs manager for MSC’s N6 Command, Control, Communication, and Computer Systems Directorate, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in conjunction with this scheme.

This case was investigated by special agents of the FBI, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. Trial Attorney Emily Rae Woods of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen W. Haynie are prosecuting the case.