Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Sentenced to 41 Months in Prison for Bribery Related to Contracting in Support of Iraq War

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DefendantAccepted $250,000 in Bribes Related to Bottled Water Contracts in Kuwait
WASHINGTON – A retired lieutenantcolonel in the U.S. Army was sentenced yesterday to 41 months in prison forengaging in bribery related to his work as a contracting officer’srepresentative in Kuwait from 2004 to 2006, announced Assistant AttorneyGeneral Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
 Derrick L. Shoemake, 50, of Moreno Valley,Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Dolly M. Gee in the CentralDistrict of California.  In addition tohis prison term, Shoemake was sentenced to two years of supervised release andwas ordered to pay $181,900 in restitution and forfeit $68,100. 
 Shoemake pleaded guilty in June 2011 to twocounts of bribery.  According to courtdocuments, Shoemake was deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, as a contractingofficer’s representative in charge of coordinating and accepting delivery ofbottled water in support of our troops in Iraq. While serving in Kuwait, Shoemake agreed to assist a contractor with hisdelivery of bottled water.  In return,the contractor paid Shoemake a total of approximately $215,000, most of whichwas delivered to Shoemake’s designee in Los Angeles.  Shoemake received an additional $35,000 froma second contractor for his perceived influence over the award of bottled watercontracts in Afghanistan.  All told,Shoemake admitted receiving approximately $250,000 from these two governmentcontractors in 2005 and 2006.
 This case is being prosecuted by TrialAttorney Richard B. Evans of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Sectionand Trial Attorney Mark W. Pletcher of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  The case is being investigated by the ArmyCriminal Investigations Division, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service,the FBI, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the InternalRevenue Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department ofHomeland Security and members of the National Procurement Fraud Task Force andthe International Contract Corruption Task Force (ICCTF).