President And Owner Of Baltimore County Business Convicted After Seven Day Trial For Honest Services Wire Fraud And Bribery

Baltimore, Maryland –After a seven-day trial, a federal jury returned guilty verdicts yesterday convicting Wayne I. Kacher, Jr., age 51, of Harford County, Maryland, on federal charges of conspiring to commit honest services wire fraud and bribery, honest services wire fraud, and bribery involving federal funds. 

The guilty verdict was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Mid-Atlantic Field Office.

As detailed in trial testimony, the Maryland Broadband Cooperative, Incorporated (“MdBC”) was a not-for-profit corporation whose purpose was to work with internet service providers to offer broadband internet service to under-served and un-served areas in Maryland.  For a fee, public and private entities could join the cooperative and gain access to the broadband infrastructure that MdBC installed.  MdBC’s office was located in Salisbury, Maryland.  William Patrick Mitchell worked as the President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of MdBC.

Defendant Wayne Kacher (“Kacher”) was the president and owner of Bel Air Underground, Inc. (“BAU”), a company that is principally located in Baltimore County, Maryland.  BAU frequently acted as a subcontractor on projects for MdBC.  Kacher was also the president and owner of Pro Comm Engineering and Locating Services, LLC (“Pro Comm”), which was principally located in Baltimore, County Maryland.  Pro Comm also acted as a subcontractor on projects for MdBC.

From 2014 to 2018, MdBC paid Kacher’s company, BAU, more than $11 million for broadband network related work.  Of that amount, approximately $7.9 million was for work on installing and improving a fiber optic broadband connection from NASA Wallops Island to Patuxent River Naval Air Station (hereafter “Pax River”) in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, to enhance the communications capacity between those locations. 

The trial evidence showed that from at least 2014 to 2018, Kacher provided Mitchell with financial benefits, including cash payments, and payments for an all-terrain vehicle and a John Deere Gator owned by Mitchell.  Kacher also paid for renovations and improvements to Mitchell’s residence, including paying for the construction of a pole building on Mitchell’s property.  Kacher gave these things to Mitchell because of and in exchange for the work that MdBC was subcontracting to BAU and Pro Comm. 

At sentencing, not yet scheduled by the court, Kacher faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for conspiracy; twenty years in federal prison for honest services wire fraud; and a maximum of ten years in prison for federal program bribery. 

On May 10, 2024, William Patrick Mitchell, age 58, previously pleaded guilty to Counts One and Two of the Superseding Indictment, which charged Mitchell with Conspiracy and Honest Services Wire Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 1346.  Judge Gallagher will sentence Mitchell on October 4, 2024. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended DCIS and the FBI for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Phelps and Christine Goo, who are prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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