FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
MARCH 15, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TEMPLE HILLS MAN SENTENCED FOR BRIBING AN NIH PURCHASING OFFICER TO GET BUSINESS FOR HIS COMPUTER COMPANY
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Jerome Monk, age 40, of Temple Hills, Maryland today to one year and one day in prison followed by three years of supervised release for giving a bribe to a public official , announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Messitte also ordered that Monk pay a fine of $3,000.
According to the statement of facts presented to the court at his guilty plea, Jerome Monk owned and operated a computer company known as RH&M Computers, Inc., located in Temple Hills, Maryland. Monk solicited business for his computer company from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Monk bribed Angela Berry, a purchasing agent at NIH, giving her over $1,300, in exchange for her giving Monks’s company NIH contracts. Between April and December 1999 Berry placed approximately 20 orders with RH&M computers.
Berry, age 40, of Ranson, West Virginia pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe and was sentenced to 3 years probation, with six months of that being served in home detention, and was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.
In October 2006, Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty announced the formation of a National Procurement Fraud Task Force designed to promote the early detection, identification, prevention and prosecution of procurement fraud associated with the increase in government contracting activity for national security and other government programs. The Procurement Fraud Task Force - chaired by Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher for the Criminal Division - includes the United States Attorneys’ Offices, the FBI, the U.S. Inspectors General community, and a number of other federal law enforcement agencies. This case, as well as other cases brought by members of the Task Force, demonstrate the Department of Justice’s commitment to helping ensure the integrity of the government procurement process.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and commended Assistant United States Attorney Bryan E. Foreman, who is prosecuting the case.