Former U.S. Army Contracting Official Pleads Guilty to Making a False Statement to the U.S. Army

WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Army contracting official based at Fort Carson, Colo., pleaded guilty to submitting a false statement to the U.S. Army, the Department of Justice announced today. 

According to a one-count felony charge filed on July 15, 2010, in the U.S. District Court in Denver, William T. Armstrong, former chief of the construction division of the Fort Carson Directorate of Contracting, made a false statement in connection with a matter involving the U.S. Army Contracting Agency, an agency within the executive branch of the United States.  The department said that Armstrong provided a false statement when he denied receiving reportable gifts on an annual confidential financial disclosure report submitted to the U.S. Army Contracting Agency.

According to court documents, on or about Jan. 24, 2008, Armstrong provided false information on the report, which  he was required to submit yearly due to his position.  Armstrong indicated on the form that he had not received any reportable gifts in the previous year when, in fact, Armstrong had received several thousand dollars worth of gifts from a construction contractor that had substantial business with the Fort Carson Directorate of Contracting, the department said.

Armstrong faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

Today’s plea is the first to arise from an ongoing investigation related to the award of construction contracts at Fort Carson, Colo.  This investigation is being jointly conducted by the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s Chicago Field Office, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, with the assistance of  the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver.                        

Anyone with information concerning suspicious activity relating to the award of construction contracts at Fort Carson, Colo., or other military bases should contact the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Field Office at 312-353-7530 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm.  

Armstrong Information