Connecticut Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving Bribes from Contractors

BOSTON – A Connecticut man who held positions involving facility maintenance at three collegiate institutions pleaded guilty today in connection with receiving bribes in exchange for directing contracts to favored contractors.

Floyd Young, 50, of Shelton, Conn., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for Feb. 1, 2021. In March 2019, Young was charged by criminal complaint and arrested.

Young held positions involving facility maintenance at three collegiate institutions, including one located in Massachusetts. Young steered contracts for construction, repair, maintenance, and other work for the collegiate institutions to favored contractors who paid him bribes, typically in the amount of 15% of the contract. The contractors inflated the amount of the invoices submitted to the collegiate institutions in order to be repaid the cost of the bribe payment made to Young. In addition, as contractors received payments for work done at the collegiate institutions, they paid Young bribes on a periodic basis. On occasion, Young and the contractors arranged for no-work invoices to be submitted to the collegiate institutions and then split the payment.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, Young has agreed to pay restitution of $919,066 – the amount he received in bribes.

The charging statute provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.