MOSES LAKE, Wash. — A former Washingtonian pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with falsely obtaining a contract with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Moses Lake.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington, 42-year-old Christopher Hamilton Clemens, who currently resides in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, obtained the contract by bribing a federal contracting official with the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
That official, Calandra Charging Eagle, reportedly engaged in bribery with Clemens by having the former Washingtonian pay a $10,700 debt owed by Charging Eagle to the Sandia Resort and Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In return, Charging Eagle agreed to use her position to steer multiple BIA contracts to Clemens and his companies.
One of those contracts included an over half-million dollar agreement to provide lightning protection improvements at the Navajo Nation's Pine Hill School in New Mexico.
In October 2020, a grand jury indicted Clemens and Charging Eagle for conspiracy to commit fraud against the United States and felony counts of paying and accepting bribes. In December of the following year, Charging Eagles pled guilty to accepting a bribe and was later sentenced to two years of probation.
Before Charging Eagle pled guilty, Clemens entered into a pre-trial agreement with regard to the bribery scheme where he promised not to commit any more crimes or engage in federal contracting. Two months after the agreement, Clemens falsely certified through a new company that he was not prohibited to engage in federal contracting.
Through that false claim, Clemens managed to obtain a design-build contract in Moses Lake with the FAA. During his plea, the 42-year-old admitted he conspired with others to commit the fraud against the FAA as part of an overall plan to defraud the United States. That included his earlier bribe agreement with Charging Eagle.
“Bribing a federal official is a serious violation that undermines the basic fairness that we all expect and deserve from our government,” United States Attorney Vanessa Waldref said in a statement. “Similarly, ignoring a court order and continuing to fraudulently engage in federal contracting cannot and will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Waldref. “I want to thank our law enforcement partners, especially the Department of Interior, Office of Inspector General, Western Region, for their tremendous and longstanding efforts in rooting out this conspiracy.”
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