Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Ex-Army officer admits he took bribes
By J.J. Wells
Daily Texan (U. Texas)
07/24/2007

(U-WIRE) AUSTIN, Texas — A retired Army major pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to charges of conspiracy and bribery for taking approximately $238,000 in kickbacks while serving in Iraq.

John Allen Rivard, 49, admitted to taking and laundering money from military contractors while working as chief and deputy chief of contracting for Camp Anaconda, a U.S. base in northern Iraq.

Rivard, a former Georgetown, Texas, resident, entered his plea in an Austin federal court before he could be indicted. His lawyer, Wade Russell, said his client had planned to plead guilty from the beginning.

"At some point, it became necessary for him to follow this course in order to avoid further actions against him," he said.

Although several co-conspirators were mentioned in court documents, their names were changed, and those people have not been charged.

In 2004, while reviewing bids and awarding contracts, Rivard sent e-mail messages to people in the United States with instructions on how to spend the thousands of dollars he was mailing to them. According to court documents, someone identified as "Person A" was instructed via e-mail to purchase a personal safe and a BMW on behalf of Rivard.

Rivard also sent e-mails instructing a "Person C" in Georgetown to open a bank account in Rivard's name. To avoid suspicion, court documents said, he insisted that the balance be kept below $10,000.

While sending thousands of dollars in cash to various co-conspirators back home, Rivard consistently awarded contracts to companies owned by someone identified in court documents as "Co-conspirator One." At least one of the contracts, a $15-million job to build stackable living containers, was awarded to one of Co-conspirator One's companies, despite suggestions from an Army evaluation team that the job go to someone else.

The contracts won by these companies were valued at more than $20 million and made up almost half of all contracts approved by Rivard.

According to his attorney, Rivard's sentencing hearing should take place in about 60 days. Rivard, who currently lives with his mother in Dallas and works at Home Depot, faces up to 30 years in jail for the charges and could have to pay a fine of more than 1 million dollars. He will also have to forfeit a motorcycle paid for with bribe money.

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