Guilty Plea From Corrections Dept. Facilities Manager

NM Watchdog - A former Corrections Department facilities manager must forfeit $237,080 and could face as much as 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty on Thursday to accepting bribes in exchange for state contracts. The company that paid the bribes is still contracting with the state. The Santa-Fe based Omni Development Corporation so far this year has landed state contracts totaling more than $1.6 million. Omni netted nearly $2.2 million in state contracts last year, and more than $4 million in Corrections Dept. business alone in the three years during which Chapman collected bribes. Former corrections facility manager Lauri Chapman pleaded guilty to 30 various federal counts based on charges that she took bribes from Omni between February, 2007 and April, 2009. A price agreement procedure Chapman first implemented in 2007 let her select contractors without soliciting competitive bids. Omni became the sole provider of roofing service for the department. An audit of contracts Chapman oversaw revealed extensive irregularities, including $3.7 million in insufficiently documented or disallowed costs charged by Omni and two other companies. Omni was paid nearly $1.3 million for costs that were not supported by state purchasing procedures. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Guilty Plea From Corrections Dept. Facilities Manager