SAN DIEGO (AP) — A San Diego-based defense contractor pleaded guilty Monday to offering bribes to a Navy official who, in return, placed $300,000 worth of orders from the company for military aircraft.
Jesse Denome, owner of JD Machine Tech, Inc., admitted that from June 2004 to September 2005 he gave a Navy official a bicycle worth nearly $2,500, a model airplane engine worth $449 and made $18,000 in payments on the official's personal credit card.
In exchange, prosecutors say the official placed over 100 orders from the company for a Navy's aircraft program.
The Navy is still investigating the official, identified only as D.V.
Prosecutors say Denome was trying to illegally win valuable Navy contracts over the competition.
According to court documents, Denome also filed false tax returns in 2005, 2006 and 2008, claiming $300,000 less than his income and passing off vacations and hobbies as business deductions. Prosecutors say as a result, he owes the government more than $80,000.
Denome, 47, faces up to eight years in prison and more than $500,000 in fines. He is scheduled to be back in court for sentencing in August.
"He realizes he made a mistake and is trying to resolve issues so he can get on with his life," said his lawyer, Michael Lipman.