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Bribery Scandal Rocks USDA
A former high-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been sentenced to 180 days of home detention and fined $110,000 for his role in a multi-year bribery scheme. Richard Holman, the former Chief of the USDA Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Coordination, Physical Security Division, accepted bribes in exchange for ensuring the awarding of USDA contracts.
Holman, 69, of Fairfax, Va. pled guilty in May 2021 to one count of bribery. He was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the Honorable Carl J. Nichols. The judge placed Holman on four years of probation, the first 180 days of which must be served under home detention.
According to court papers, between July 2013 and December 2015, Eric Schneider and Communications Resources, Inc. (CRI) gave Holman and other USDA officials Corvette wheels, concert tickets, PGA tour tickets, meals, alcohol, strip clubs, parking, concierge medical services, prescription drugs, and other cash tips. In exchange, Holman gave Eric Schneider and CRI preferential treatment in the award of USDA contracts worth over $19 million.
As part of the scheme, CRI employees drafted procurement documents in such a way as to favor the award of a multi-million dollar contract to CRI, and USDA officials used the documents in the procurement process as if they prepared them.
Schneider, 51, also of Fairfax, Va., pleaded guilty in November 2020 to conspiracy and obstruction for his role in the scheme last year. He is to be sentenced on Oct. 4, 2021.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Beltsville Field Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigated the case, with assistance from the inspector general’s offices of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of State, and the Small Business Administration OIG. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
The bribery scheme, which lasted from July 2013 to December 2015, involved the award of contracts worth over $19 million. Holman’s sentencing marks the latest development in a case that has exposed the deep-seated corruption within the USDA.
Key Facts
- State: Washington DC
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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