FHWA Gets Three Year Sentence, Contractor Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy
16 November 1998
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, November 16, 1998 FHWA Manager Sentenced to 3-Year Jail Term; Contractor Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy The Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General has announced that on Nov. 12, 1998, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Alberto Santiago, the former Chief of State Programs at the Federal Highway Administration who resigned while under investigation, was sentenced to 37 months incarceration, 3 years supervised release, and fined $5,000. On Aug. 19, 1998, Santiago pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery, and money-laundering charges. The charges were the result of Santiago's solicitation and receipt of more than $150,000 in cash and money orders from government contractors, who submitted fraudulent invoices on federal highway contracts for reimbursement. The contracts affected by the fraud related to advanced vehicle highway technologies. The money-laundering charge stemmed from a scheme in which Santiago instructed a contractor to set aside $100,000 in federal highway funds as reimbursement to a contractor who paid him money. The money would be wired to a company overseas, later returned to the United States, and converted to cash. A former Lockheed-Martin contractor pleaded guilty Nov. 3 to a charge of conspiring to submit false claims to the United States and to pay unlawful gratuities to Santiago. Prosecutors allege contractors conspired with Santiago to submit fraudulent claims to FHWA as a way of reimbursing the contractors for their bribes to Santiago, who had official responsibility over the contractors. ### Visit the DOT Public Affairs Web Site at: http://www.dot.gov/briefing.htm