A former U.S. Air Force contractor pleaded guilty today to engaging in a bribery scheme relating to a large technology contract.
Juan Carlos Arevalo III, 44, of Occoquan, Va., served as the chief technologies officer and senior technical consultant for a USAF component that focuses on intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and innovation from 2013 to 2019.
According to court documents, Arevalo worked closely with senior USAF officials in the Pentagon and helped them to design, develop and deliver various military technologies.
Julio R. “Jace” Sotomayor was a retired USAF colonel who was the owner of two consulting firms – Eagle Market Group and Federal Security Agency – and the minority owner of a government contracting firm.
Beginning in late 2013, Sotomayor and the contracting firm’s majority owner sought to provide services to the USAF to support various technology projects and initiatives.
As part of this objective, Arevalo and Sotomayor agreed to engage in a multi-year scheme in which Sotomayor, through EMG, paid $185,000 to Arevalo using his relative as a pass-through intermediary.
In exchange for these payments, Arevalo agreed to perform and did perform official acts, and sought to influence other officials, to benefit Sotomayor, the firm and the firm’s majority owner.
Beginning in 2014, Sotomayor also engaged in a similar pass-through bribery scheme with a former federal contracting officer, Diane Sturgis, by using EMG to pay $150,000 to Sturgis’s relative in exchange for official assistance regarding the same USAF technology contract.
Through early 2020, the firm had received approximately $51.6 million from the USAF of which at least $5.9 million was paid to Sotomayor.
Arevalo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and honest services wire fraud.
Arevalo is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 13 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Sotomayor and Sturgis have also pleaded guilty and were sentenced for their part in the scheme.
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Crystal Graham
