DOJ REPORTS FORMER U.S. POSTAL SERVICE CONTRACTING OFFICER SENTENCED FOR TAKING BRIBES

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Former Contracting Officer Sentenced for Bribery in Connection with Awarding of U.S. Postal Service Contracts

A Glenn Dale, Maryland, man and former U.S. Postal Service contracting officer was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for receiving bribes in connection with the awarding of mail delivery contracts.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein of the District of Maryland and Special Agent in Charge Paul L. Bowman of the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General made the announcement.

In May 2015, Gregory Cooper, 59, pleaded guilty to accepting more than $25,000 in bribes from a co-defendant who owned two companies that bid on and secured transportation contracts with the Postal Service for mail delivery.  Those bribes came in a variety of forms, ranging from fitness equipment delivered to Cooper’s Maryland home to a semester’s worth of college tuition for Cooper’s daughter, in addition to $15,900 in cash.  Cooper admitted that in exchange for these payments, he gave favorable consideration to his co-defendant’s companies in the bidding process for nine Postal Service contracts, all of which were awarded to the co-defendant’s companies.

In addition to his prison sentence, U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel of the District of Maryland ordered Cooper to forfeit the amount of the bribes, $25,931.76, and to serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Mark J. Cipolletti and Monique Abrishami of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Salem and Arun G. Rao of the District of Maryland.  The case was investigated by special agents from the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.