USAID bribery scheme involved $550M in federal contracts

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A former U.S. Agency for International Development official in Maryland and three corporate executives have pleaded guilty for their roles in a decade-long bribery scheme involving more than $550 million in contracts, with two of the companies who contracted with USAID agreeing Thursday to defer their own prosecution.

Roderick Watson, a former USAID contracting officer, pled guilty last month before the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to receiving bribes from three corporate executives in exchange for awarding USAID contracts to Apprio, Inc. and Vistant, federal contractors that provide technology solutions and program management services to government agencies.

Walter Barnes, owner and president of PM Consulting Group LLC (d/b/a Vistant), also pled guilty last month to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and securities fraud; Darryl Britt, owner and president of Apprio, pled guilty in October 2024 to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official; and Paul Young, president of a subcontractor to Apprio and Vistant, pled guilty in June last year to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official.

The four men, all Marylanders excluding Britt, who is a Florida resident, played varying roles in a bribery scheme that began in 2013 and involved at least 14 prime contracts worth more than $550 million.

According to court documents, Watson accepted bribes from Britt and Barnes that were often concealed by passing them through Young in exchange for awarding contracts to Apprio and Vistant. The bribes included cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, down payments on two residential mortgages, cellphones, and jobs for relatives.

In exchange for the bribe payments, Watson awarded contracts to Apprio and Vistant by manipulating the procurement process as USAID through various means, including recommending their companies to other USAID decisionmakers for non-competitive contract awards, disclosing sensitive procurement information during the competitive bidding process, providing positive performance evaluations to a government agency, and approving decisions on the contracts, such as increased funding and a security clearance.

In 2022, according to court documents, Watson and Barnes defrauded a licensed small business investment company by inducing the company into executing a credit agreement with Vistant, where Barnes caused Vistant to issue stock warrants that, if exercised, would result in the investment company having a 40% equity stake in Vistant. The credit agreement also provided for a $14 million loan to Vistant, from which Barnes could pay himself a $10 million dividend.

In 2023, Britt engaged in a scheme in which Apprio fraudulently induced a private equity firm to purchase from Apprio’s parent company a 20% equity stake in the company for $4 million and simultaneously extend it a $4 million loan secured by shares of Apprio stock. According to court documents, Britt intentionally omitted during negotiations that he had bribed Watson for years.

Counsel for Watson, Barnes, Britt, and Young, all of whom are represented separately by different attorneys, did not return a request for comment Friday.

Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said in a news release Thursday that the four men “sought to enrich themselves at the expense of the American taxpayers.”

“Their scheme violated the public trust by undermining the integrity of the federal government’s procurement process,” Galeotti said.

A spokesperson for the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on when the investigation began or what prompted the investigation.

Kelly Hayes, U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, said her office and law-enforcement partners will continue to prosecute “corruption at every level.”

“Watson was entrusted to serve the interests of the American people—not his own—and his criminal actions for his own personal gain undermines the integrity of our public institutions,” Hayes said in a news release. “Public trust is a hallmark of our nation’s values, so corruption within a federal government agency is intolerable.”

Apprio and Vistant, in admitting criminal liability and entering into three-year deferred prosecution agreements, are required to report to the Justice Department regarding remediation and implementation of compliance measures. According to the DOJ, Apprio is expected to pay $500,000 in a civil settlement, while Vistant is expected to pay $100,000.

Watson is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 6 and faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Britt, Young, and Barnes’ sentencings are scheduled for July 28, Sept. 3, and Oct. 14, respectively, where they each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Editor’s note, this story has been updated to say the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to say when the investigation began or what prompted it.