Prison Term In Panama Bribes Case

John Webster Warwick, a Virginia Beach, Va., resident, was sentenced Friday to 37 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to pay bribes to former Panamanian government officials to secure maritime contracts.

U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson also sentenced Warwick to two years of supervised release following his prison term. Warwick also forfeited $331,000 in proceeds of the crime.

Warwick, 64, pleaded guilty in February to a one-count indictment charging him with conspiring to make corrupt payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of securing business for Ports Engineering Consultants Corporation (PECC) in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). A copy of his plea agreement can be downloaded here.

In April this year, Warwick's co-defendant in the case, Charles Jumet, was sentenced to 87 months in prison and fined $15,000. It was the longest sentence ever in an FCPA-related case. Jumet, 53, pleaded guilty in November last year to being part of the overseas bribery conspiracy that began in 1996. The Justice Department hasn't commented on the fifty-month difference in the sentences handed out to Jumet and Warwick. Jumet, however, was also charged with lying to federal investigators. A copy of his plea agreement can be downloaded here.

Warwick and Jumet admitted conspiring to make secret payments to Panamanian government officials for awarding contracts to PECC to maintain lighthouses and buoys. In December 1997, the Panamanian government awarded PECC a no-bid 20-year concession. Warwick, Jumet and others then arranged bribes to the officials of "more than $200,000," according to the DOJ.

A copy of the DOJ's June 25, 2010 release can be downloaded here.

Longest FCPA Prison Sentence

The Virginia man who pleaded guilty in November to being part of an overseas bribery conspiracy that began in 1996 was sentenced today to 87 months in prison and fined $15,000. Prosecutors said it's the longest sentence ever in an FCPA-related case.

Charles Paul Edward Jumet, 53, had been charged in a two-count criminal information. In his guilty plea, he admitted conspiring with others to violate the FCPA by making corrupt payments to government officials in Panama and giving a false statement to the FBI about how he paid some of the bribe money.

Jumet, an American citizen, was an officer of Ports Engineering Consultants Corporation (PECC), an affiliate of Virginia Beach-based Overman Associates. In December 1997, the Panamanian government awarded PECC a no-bid, 20-year contract to maintain lighthouses and buoys along Panama’s waterway. In exchange, Jumet and others authorized corrupt payments to Panamanian officials.

By 2003, he and his co-conspirators had paid $212,400 to the former administrator and deputy administrator of Panama’s National Maritime Ports Authority and to a former, high-ranking elected official of Panama.

The FCPA conspiracy count carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the scheme. The false statement count carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Under the conspiracy law, 18 U.S.C. § 371, the statute of limitations can reach back to FCPA-related criminal behavior more than five years old if the conspiracy ended within the past five years.

A second man has also pleaded guilty in the case. John W. Warwick, 64, of Virginia Beach, Va., admitted in February to allegations in a one-count indictment charging him with conspiring to bribe Panamanian officials. He agreed to forfeit $331,000 that he made through the bribery. He's scheduled to be sentenced on May 14, 2010.

According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, Jumet said at sentencing: "I am truly sorry for what I have done." He said he initially didn't know the deal involved anything illegal, but conceded he didn't withdraw once he did learn.

The DOJ's Lanny Breuer said, "Today’s sentence -- the longest ever imposed for violating the FCPA –- is an important milestone in our effort to deter foreign bribery. As this case confirms, foreign corruption carries with it very serious penalties, which can include substantial prison time for individuals who violate the law."

View the DOJ's April 19, 2010 release here.

Download the November 10, 2009 criminal information in U.S. v. Charles Paul Edward Jumet  here.

Download the DOJ's statement of facts here.

Download Jumet's plea agreement here.

Download John W. Warwick's plea agreement here.

Second Guilty Plea For Panama Bribes

DOJ Release February 10, 2010 -- A Virginia resident pleaded guilty today in connection with his role in a conspiracy to pay bribes to former Panamanian government officials.

John W. Warwick, 64, of Virginia Beach, Va., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson in Richmond, Va., to a one-count indictment charging him with conspiring to make corrupt payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of securing business for Ports Engineering Consultants Corporation (PECC) in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Warwick was indicted on Dec. 15, 2009. PECC, a company incorporated under the laws of Panama, was affiliated with an engineering firm based in Virginia Beach. According to the indictment, PECC was created so that Warwick, co-conspirator Charles Jumet, the engineering firm and others could corruptly obtain certain maritime contracts from the Panamanian government.

According to court documents, Warwick and Jumet participated in a conspiracy to pay money secretly to Panamanian government officials for awarding contracts to PECC to maintain lighthouses and buoys along Panama’s waterway. In December 1997, the Panamanian government awarded PECC a no-bid 20-year concession to perform these duties. Upon receipt of the concession, Warwick, Jumet and others authorized corrupt payments to be made to the Panamanian government officials.

In connection with his guilty plea, Warwick admitted that at least from 1997 through approximately July 2003, he, Jumet and others conspired to make corrupt payments totaling more than $200,000 to the former administrator and deputy administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority and to a former, high-ranking elected executive official of the Republic of Panama.

As part of his plea agreement, Warwick has agreed to forfeit $331,000, which represents the proceeds of this crime. At sentencing, scheduled for May 14, 2010, at 10:30 a.m. before Judge Hudson, Warwick faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss.

Jumet pleaded guilty on Nov. 13, 2009, to a two-count criminal information charging him with conspiring to make corrupt payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of securing business for PECC, in violation of the FCPA, and making a false statement. Jumet is scheduled to be sentenced on March 26, 2010.

A copy of the plea agreement in U.S. v. Warwick can be downloaded here.

Another Indictment In Panama Bribes Case

A Virginia man yesterday became the second person charged with bribing former Panamanian government officials in exchange for maritime contracts. John W. Warwick, 63, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Richmond for conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He allegedly plotted with others to pay foreign officials to obtain business for Ports Engineering Consultants Corporation (PECC). The company was a Panama affiliate of Overman Associates, a Virginia Beach engineering firm.

Last month in the same case, Charles Paul Edward Jumet, 53, pleaded guilty to a two-count criminal information. He admitted conspiring to violate the FCPA by making corrupt payments to government officials in Panama on behalf of PECC and giving a false statement to the FBI about how he paid some of the bribe money. He's scheduled to be sentenced on February 12, 2010. See our post here.

Warwick's indictment alleges that he, Jumet and others conspired to make corrupt payments totaling more than $200,000 to the former administrator and deputy administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority and to "a former, high-ranking elected executive official" of Panama. In December 1997, Panama awarded PECC a no-bid, 20-year contract to maintain lighthouses and buoys. Warwick was the company's former president.

If convicted, Warwick faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss. The indictment seeks forfeiture of the proceeds Warwick and Overman Associates received from PECC's Panama contracts.

As the DOJ says, an indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty at trial beyond a reasonable doubt.

View the Justice Department's December 16, 2009 release here.

Download a copy of the December 15, 2009 indictment in U.S. v. Warwick here.

Guilty Plea In (Old) Panama Bribes Case

A Virginia man pleaded guilty on Friday, November 13th to being part of an overseas bribery conspiracy that began in 1996 and ended in 2003. Charles Paul Edward Jumet, 53, was charged in federal court in Richmond, Virginia under a two-count criminal information. He admitted conspiring with others to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by making corrupt payments to government officials in Panama and giving a false statement to the FBI about how he paid some of the bribe money.

Jumet, an American citizen, was an officer of Ports Engineering Consultants Corporation (PECC), an affiliate of Virignia Beach-based Overman Associates. In December 1997, the Panamanian government awarded PECC a no-bid, 20-year contract to maintain lighthouses and buoys along Panama’s waterway. In exchange, Jumet and others authorized corrupt payments to Panamanian officials. By 2003, he and his co-conspirators had paid more than $200,000 to the former administrator and deputy administrator of Panama’s National Maritime Ports Authority and to a former, high-ranking elected official of Panama.

The bribery plot started in 1996 and was first uncovered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2004. The FBI later joined the investigation.

As in Frederic Bourke's case, the DOJ charged Jumet not with a substantive FCPA offense but under the conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. § 371. For conspiracy, the statute of limitations can reach back to criminal behavior more than five years old if the conspiracy ended within the past five years. Here's what the U.S. Attorneys Criminal Resource Manual says: 

Conspiracy is a continuing offense. For statutes such as 18 U.S.C. § 371, which require an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy, the statute of limitations begins to run on the date of the last overt act. See Fiswick v. United States, 329 U.S. 211 (1946); United States v. Butler, 792 F.2d 1528 (11th Cir. 1986).

Jumet is scheduled to be sentenced February 12, 2010. The FCPA conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the scheme. The false statement count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

A copy of the DOJ's November 13, 2009 release is here.

Download the November 10, 2009 criminal information in U.S. v. Charles Paul Edward Jumet  here.

Download the DOJ's statement of facts here.

Download the plea agreement here.

Our thanks to Matthew Reinhard and Cody Worthington for helping us with this post.