FORMER NAVAL AIR STATION EMPLOYEE SENTENCED ON BRIBERY CHARGE

(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) – Edward E. Villarreal, 53, of Corpus Christi, has been sentenced for accepting a $5,000 bribe, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.

Villarreal was an engineer technician in the Public Works Department at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi. He pleaded guilty Dec. 19, 2007, for accepting a $5,000 bribe in exchange for recommending Contract Construction and Fence Company (CCFC) for a fencing contract in the amount to $153,000 at the Naval Air Station. The bribe was paid in two installments during meetings with agents of CCFC, the second of which was captured on audio.

U.S. District Court Judge Hayden Head sentenced Villarreal to a year’s confinement and ordered him to pay a $3,000 fine. Upon completion of the prison term, the court has ordered Villarreal to serve a three-year-term of supervised release.

The indictment was the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel C. Rodriguez.