MARYLAND
A private contractor plead guilty today to paying bribes to a U.S. Postal Service contracting employee in order to receive contracts to deliver the mail, according to officials.
Barbara Murphy, 52, of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, will be sentenced on June 13.
According to the evidence filed in court, Murphy was the sole owner of ER&R Transportation and MC&G Trucking LLC, which she used to bid for and perform on transportation contracts with the Postal Service..
Murphy admitted that from January 2011 to July 2012, she bribed Gregory Cooper, a former Postal Service contracting officer representative.
These bribes included cash paid directly into Cooper’s bank accounts, automobile loan payments, college tuition for Cooper’s daughter, five cell phone bill payments, an airline ticket and fitness equipment, Murphy admitted.
According to the plea agreement, Murphy gave all of these benefits in exchange for Cooper’s favorable treatment of her companies when contracting opportunities with the USPS arose, in violation of Cooper’s lawful duty to the Postal Service.
Specifically, Cooper recommended to his superiors that 10 Postal Service contracts on which Murphy bid be awarded to Murphy’s companies, she admitted.
Additionally, Murphy admitted that Cooper provided her with advice on how to address specific issues that arose from her contract performance and drafted documents that Murphy provided to the Postal Service.
On Nov. 15, U.S. District Judge George Jarrod Hazel sentenced Cooper to 15 months in prison for bribery.