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Former USMMA Supervisor Sentenced to 9 Months’ Imprisonment
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On November 17, 2017, Frank DeCarlo, former wood shop supervisor at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s (USMMA) Department of Public Works, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Central Islip, New York, to 9 months’ incarceration, 3 years’ supervised release, a $10,000 fine, and a $48,000 criminal forfeiture. DeCarlo was also ordered to file amended income tax returns for the 13½ years encompassing the bribery scheme.
DeCarlo pleaded guilty, on April 20, 2017, to an information charging the receipt of bribes by a public official. Between approximately January 2003 and November 2016, he accepted over $50,000 in cash bribes and accepted free services from favored contractors; in return, he used his influence to steer USMMA contracts to those contractors. In his official capacity, DeCarlo was responsible for drafting statements of work for construction-related jobs as well as soliciting and obtaining quotes from vendors. His bribery schemes included structuring purchases from vendors to remain below certain dollar thresholds to avoid the competitive bidding process. In other instances, DeCarlo instructed a cooperating witness to provide bogus “covering” bids to guarantee contract awards, for which he was paid 10 percent of the contracted amounts.
DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.