INDIANAPOLIS
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt sentenced the manager of the Engineering Services for the city of Bloomington to four years and seven months in prison for accepting kickbacks and bribes in exchange getting construction company getting more than $800,000 in city projects, according to authorities.
Justin Wykoff, 44, plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud.
“Public officials are trusted to serve the people not to serve themselves,” U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler stated on Tuesday. “Those who choose to line their pockets using money from the public payroll can expect the full force of the federal prosecution hammer. Judge Walton Pratt’s sentence sends a strong message; if you choose to abuse the public’s trust as a public official, you will go to prison. There will be no probation, no half-way house, no suspended sentence, no parole. The sentence will be prison.”
These are the facts and circumstances surrounding this case:
- Wykoff, was the manager for Engineering Services for the City of Bloomington and pled guilty in federal court to 11 counts of wire fraud in March.
- He was responsible for bidding and awarding contracts for public works projects in the City of Bloomington, like road paving and sidewalk construction.
- Between April 2011 to February 2014, Wykoff solicited and received substantial cash bribes and kickbacks from Roger Hardin and his son, Zach Hardin, who operated a company called Reliable Concrete and Construction.
- In exchange for the kickbacks, Wykoff assisted the Hardins in obtaining over $800,000 in city construction contracts and payments for Reliable Concrete.
- Wykoff estimated project costs and prepared bid proposals, using his insider information to ensure Reliable Concrete was the low bidder.
- In some cases, Wykoff awarded city contracts to Reliable Concrete outright without obtaining bids from other contractors.
- Wykoff also authorized city payments to Reliable Concrete totaling approximately $807,000. Of that amount, approximately $300,000 was for work that was never completed by Reliable Concrete.
Steps to Conceal the Scheme
Wykoff and the Hardins took steps to conceal their scheme by creating false Reliable Concrete bid proposals after the fact, officials said.
On February 17, 2014, officials said Wykoff went to Roger Hardin’s home and created multiple bid proposal forms for projects that the City of Bloomington had already paid Reliable Concrete for—even though Reliable Concrete had not performed the work.
The forms were backdated to coincide with the dates that the work was supposed to have taken place. Wykoff initialed or signed these forms as if he had approved the bids and then planted copies of the forms in his office in an attempt to further conceal the scheme, according to authorities.
Roger Hardin was sentenced to 33 months for his role in the scheme. His son, Zachary was sentenced to 12 months.
All three are equally responsible for restitution of over $400,000 to the City of Bloomington.