The former owner and president of a defense contracting company pleaded guilty Thursday to taking part in a scheme to bribe a San Diego-based Navy civilian employee.
Philip Flores, 53, admitted providing gifts to James Soriano, who worked at the Naval Information Warfare Center as a contracting officer’s representative, in exchange for his help in securing millions of dollars in government contracts.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the gifts included meals and tickets to major sporting events, including the 2019 Super Bowl and a 2018 World Series game, that totaled over $18,000.
Soriano, who has pleaded guilty to federal charges, in turn helped Flores’ Virginia-based company, Intellipeak Solutions, Inc., obtain the contracts. The government paid Intellipeak over $16 million for work on around two dozen contracts and task orders.
The scheme helped the company make a profit of between $550,000 and $1.5 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Flores is slated to be sentenced June 13. He faces up to five years in prison.
Soriano, who awaits sentencing, set for May 9, also previously pleaded guilty to accepting gifts from another defense contractor, Cambridge International Systems, Inc. Cambridge and its former executive vice president Russell Thurston, also pleaded guilty.
