NEWARK, N.J. ― A civilian worker at a New Jersey military base has admitted his role in a scheme that traded bribes and other gratuities for favorable treatment on government contracts.
Joseph Gooch pleaded guilty Tuesday.
The 60-year-old Morristown man was a general engineer who was the army’s representative on contracts made with federal contracting companies. He had the authority to evaluate a contracting company’s work and could influence whether additional contracts should be granted.
Federal prosecutors say that between January 2006 and December 2017, Gooch conspired with other Picatinny Arsenal staffers and employees of a defense contracting firm to seek and accept gifts and other items of value in exchange for government contracts and other favorable assistance.
Prosecutors say Gooch also conspired with others to file false bills that wrote off the bribes’ cost as “materials” needed on the government contracts.
