Ex-Military Contractor from Philly Sentenced for Bribes

Justin Lee, the former president of Lee Dynamics International, will spend a year and a day in prison for his role in a scheme to bribe U.S. Army officials.

A former military contractor from Philadelphia who admitted his role in a plot to pay $1.2 million in bribes in exchange for defense contracts was sentenced today to a year and a day in prison.

Justin Lee, 37, pleaded guilty in 2011 to one count of conspiracy and four counts of bribery. Lee is the former president of Lee Dynamics International. His father, George Lee, was sentenced in July to 54 months in prison for his role in the scheme.

“For Justin Lee and others, bribery was a way of doing business,” Assistant Attorney General Breuer said after the guilty plea. “He offered military officials vacations to Thailand and Europe, Rolex watches, cash, and even employment with their company, all in order to secure lucrative defense contracts. Private contractors will not be allowed to win business by stacking the deck against the competition and, as this investigation shows, the military officials who participate in such fraudulent schemes will also be held to account.”

A release from the Justice Department says the sentencing concludes the Cockerham bribery case, a scheme surrounding the Iraq War that was first uncovered in 2006. Several U.S. Army contracting officers accepted bribes in return for steering military contracts between 2004 and 2007. Major John L. Cockerham, the ringleader, was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison in 2009.