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A Virginia couple and Missouri man were sentenced yesterday for conspiring to bribe a public official.
Susan May Keim, 54, of Hopewell, Virginia, was sentenced to 30 months in prison; Russell John Keim Sr., 60, also of Hopewell, was sentenced to 18 months in prison; and Rodney Gale Wilson, 67, of Imperial, Missouri, was sentenced to 45 months in prison. All three defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to offer bribes to a public official and to accept bribes as a public official.
According to court documents, Susan Keim and her husband Russell Keim accepted bribes from Wilson in return for Susan Keim’s award of purchase orders to Wilson’s company to sell parts and materials to U.S. Army Garrison Fort Lee (redesignated as Fort Gregg-Adams). Susan Keim worked for Skookum Educational Services, a company that contracted with the federal government to provide maintenance and supply services at Fort Lee. Under the contract, the federal government reimbursed Skookum for the cost of the supplies it purchased for Fort Lee. Wilson was the owner of C&L Supply, a company formed for the sole purpose of selling supplies to Skookum for use at Fort Lee. C&L Supply sometimes sold the supplies to Skookum at a substantial markup, a cost which was passed on to the federal government. From 2013 to 2018, in return for the award of purchase orders worth over $900,000, Wilson provided checks and cash payments to Susan and Russell Keim disguised as compensation to Russell Keim for work he purportedly performed for C&L Supply and payments for work done on a property owned by the Keims.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia, Special Agent in Charge Stanley M. Meador of the FBI Richmond Field Office, Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael C. Curran of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID)'s Major Procurement Fraud Field Office (MPFFO), and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS)'s Mid-Atlantic Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI Richmond Field Office, Army CID’s MPFFO, and DCIS investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Lauren Britsch Slater of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael C. Moore for the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuted the case.