Contractor charged with bribing Caltrans official in $8 million bid rigging conspiracy

SACRAMENTO — Federal prosecutors right here have charged a contractor with bribing a Caltrans contract manager who admitted to acquiring under-the-table dollars and services exceeding $800,000, court documents exhibit.

William Opp was billed with one count of bid rigging conspiracy and a single rely of bribery concerning systems that get federal cash. Both equally crimes have a optimum of 10 a long time in jail, courtroom data show.

Prosecutors wrote in court docket information that Opp was aspect of a conspiracy to bribe Keith Yong, a former Caltrans agreement supervisor who very last April pleaded guilty to comparable rates. His signed plea settlement suggests he handed down contracts “in excessive of $8 million” to people who experienced bribed him.

Yong also admitted to acquiring $800,000 in bribes, including different funds payments and $130,000 value of renovations to his residence.

“In addition to the bid-rigged contracts, Yong also directed various no-bid contracts that have been awarded on an unexpected emergency basis to businesses controlled by co-conspirators,” the plea settlement claims. “Yong experienced an agreement with co-conspirators that Yong would receive 10 % or extra of the price of Caltrans contracts topic to the plan.”

In Opp’s scenario, prosecutors allege in courtroom records that he “controlled at the very least a single of the organizations associated in the bid-rigging conspiracy and also bribed Yong.” They never specify which corporation Opp “controlled.”

Opp has not nonetheless entered a plea, according to court data. Yong is scheduled to be sentenced in August.