A U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contracting officer and three company leaders pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme connected to over $550 million in taxpayer money, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Thursday.
The scheme spanned a decade and was tied to at least 14 USAID contracts that cost U.S. taxpayers over $550 million, according to the statement. 57-year-old Roderick Watson of Woodstock, Maryland, admitted to bribery of a government official while working as a contracting officer. Starting in 2013, he received bribes from Darryl Britt, 64, of Myakka City, Florida, to use his influence to award contracts to Britt’s small business, which was enrolled in a federal business development program designed to grow disadvantaged businesses, court documents said.
After Britt’s business graduated from the program, it swapped places with another firm owned by Walter Barnes, 46, of Potomac, Maryland. Barnes’s firm, once a subcontractor to Britt’s on one of the contracts that the latter secured through Watson’s influence, then became the prime contractor with USAID under the program between 2018 and 2022 while Britt’s firm served as a subcontractor.
Watson received bribes worth about $1 million, “including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments [sic] on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives,” according to the DOJ. These bribes were in exchange for awarding the contracts “by manipulating the procurement process at USAID.” Barnes and Britt paid Watson the bribes through Paul Young, 62, of Columbia, Maryland — the president of another firm that was a subcontractor to both Barnes’s and Britt’s firms. (RELATED: Former USAID-Funded Program Contractor Sentenced For Fraud Scheme)
USAID Official and Three Corporate Executives Plead Guilty to Decade-Long Bribery Scheme Involving Over $550 Million in Contracts; Two Companies Admit Criminal Liability for Bribery Scheme and Securities Fraudhttps://t.co/dOvZlhbc3Y
— Criminal Division (@DOJCrimDiv) June 13, 2025
Barnes, Watson and Britt were also found to have fraudulently induced firms to commit to certain business agreements while they omitted to disclose the bribery scheme, according to court documents. Britt, Barnes and Young all pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a public official while Barnes additionally admitted to securities fraud.
Watson faces up to 15 years behind bars, while Barnes, Britt and Young each face up to five years, the DOJ said.
Both Barnes’s and Britt’s companies admitted involvement in the bribery scheme. They agreed to cooperate with the DOJ, adopt specified compliance measures and report how they are implementing them and other obligations. The firms both entered into three-year deferred prosecution agreements with federal authorities. Britt’s firm agreed to a $500,000 civil settlement while Britt’s agreed to a $100,000 civil settlement.
“The defendants sought to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers through bribery and fraud,” Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said.
“Public trust is a hallmark of our nation’s values, so corruption within a federal government agency is intolerable,” U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes of the District of Maryland said.
USAID has undergone massive cuts under the second Trump administration following reviews of the organization’s spending.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
