MN Guard Member Named In Bribery Case

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Prosecutors say six people have been implicated in contract-rigging schemes

involving the bribery of National Guard officials. Three of them have pleaded guilty.

The Department of Justice on Wednesday unveiled charges against the group in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Court documents show the schemes involved two businesses headed by retired National Guardsmen, one from Forest Lake, Minnesota, and another from Stafford, Virginia. Prosecutors say both businesses bribed National Guard officials to steer contracts to certain minority-owned businesses. They say the businesses that provided the bribes then did the actual work and got most of the money.

Prosecutors say National Guard officials got thousands of dollars in bribes through the schemes and that a total of $14.6 million in contracts was improperly awarded.