BALTIMORE — A Toledo man was recently sentenced to 30 months in federal prison on bribery charges related to contracting at the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.
Matthew Barrow, 45, was sentenced in April by U.S. District Court Judge George Russell III to 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, while his co-defendants, John Kays, 45, formerly of Maryland, and his wife, Danielle Kays, 44, are serving prison sentences of six years and 18 months, respectively, for their roles in the scheme.
The three defendants graduated together from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, according to a media release issued by the District of Maryland. In 2008, the Kays each held leadership positions as civilian employees in the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command — representing the Army in multi-year contracts. Communications-Electronics Command was headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Barrow worked for a glass manufacturer in Toledo and formed a company called MJ-6, to which John Kays admitted that he steered Communications-Electronics Command subcontracts in exchange for money, according to the release.
In March, 2006, the U.S. Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground awarded a 10-year, $19.2 billion contract to seven prime contractors to provide technology services to support the integrated engineering, business operations, and logistics needed for the Army, according to officials. Both of the Kayses had positions related to this contract.
From August, 2008 to June, 2014, John Kays agreed to take official actions favorable to Barrow and MJ-6 in return for Barrow paying them a total of approximately $800,000, according to records.
Danielle Kays admitted to using her position to benefit Barrow and MJ-6 from 2011 to 2014 to add the company as a subcontractor acceptable to the Army, steer potential employees for government contractors to work for MJ-6, approve MJ-6 employees to work on various task orders, and approve the pay rates, status reports, and travel reimbursements for MJ-6 employees.
Total contracts steered to MJ-6 by the Kayses exceeded $21 million, according to the District of Maryland.
In order to conceal his corrupt relationship with the Kayses, Barrow caused the glass company he worked for to enter into contracts and make payments to a company incorporated by John Kays — until the glass company fired Barrow.
The court previously issued an order that the defendants forfeit $1,487,135 as well as vehicles and a boat.
First Published June 28, 2019, 4:17 p.m.
