The plea, announced by the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, covers conduct running from April 2016 to April 2025. James agreed to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution to the Department of Defense.
According to court documents cited by the department, James and co-conspirators falsely inflated the cost of IT contracts serving U.S. Air Force installations across the Pacific. Conspirators used diverted government funds to enrich themselves and to pay bribes to a federal public official in the Pacific Air Forces whom they nicknamed "Godfather."
The scheme included "directing supposed competitors on bid amounts to circumvent the competitive bidding process," the department said. Diverted funds also paid for luxury accommodations, including an all-expenses-paid multi-day stay at a resort on Oahu's North Shore in 2023.
"Over thirty-seven million dollars — that's how much the U.S. Air Force overpaid because of the scheme that the defendant admitted to, under oath and in open court," said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Daniel Glad of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.
U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson for the District of Hawaii said James "not only stole from American taxpayers and harmed companies seeking to compete honestly for government contracts, he also ultimately harmed essential military services designed to keep our nation safe by diverting resources away from other services."
James faces maximum penalties of 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy, 15 years for bribery, and 10 years for the Sherman Act bid-rigging count. Fines could reach $250,000 to $1 million per count and may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the victim losses if either figure exceeds the statutory maximums.
The case was prosecuted by the Antitrust Division's San Francisco Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii as part of the Procurement Collusion Strike Force. Investigators included the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the General Services Administration's Office of Inspector General.