A former U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employee in Colorado pleaded guilty to corruption charges related to accepting bribes in exchange for rigging federal contracts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Dwane Nevins, 55, worked as a small business specialist at the VA’s Network Contracting Office in Colorado when he agreed to take bribes from an undercover FBI agent to manipulate the process for bidding on federal contracts. He also concocted a scheme with two others to rig contracts, according to a news release. Nevins pleaded guilty to six corruption-related counts.
Nevins’ co-conspirator Anthony Bueno also pleaded guilty last week to conspiring to make those payments and businessman Robert Revis pleaded guilty in April for his involvement in the scheme.
“Corruption in the government procurement process has consequences,” U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn said in the release. “Here the defendant participated in manipulating the bid process so that a specific company could prevail. That is wrong, it is criminal, and there will be swift consequences for anyone that engages in such behavior.”
Nevins is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 20 and faces 65 years in prison. Bueno is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 7 and Revis on Jan. 24.
