Bad Movie Script or Actual Solicitation of a Bribe?

Tuesday, 03 February 2015 00:00 Nick Sanders
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Two_Persons_of_InterestJames Glenn Warner, age 44, of Manassas, Virginia, was a “Contracting Official” supporting the United States Army. He worked in the Pentagon.

In October, 2014, Warner made arrangements to meet with two executives of “Company A,” a Virginia-based company which held a five-year contract with the Department of the Army worth up to $120 million.  At the meeting, which took place at a restaurant located in the Pentagon Centre in Arlington, Virginia, Warner instructed the two executives to communicate with him by typing messages into his cellular telephone, which was passed around the table.  Warner then passed a menu to the two executives.  Inside the plastic covering for the center section of the menu was a piece of paper which outlined a bribe and extortion solicitation, suggesting that if “Company A” paid $500,000 it would secure a contract renewal from the Department of the Army and that alleged damaging information about “Company A” would be destroyed.  Allegedly.

The “Company A” executives declined Warner’s solicitation. Instead, they reported the conduct to appropriate authorities and began cooperating with law enforcement agents.  Acting at the direction of law enforcement, a “Company A” executive then met with Warner on four subsequent occasions, paying Warner a total of $50,000 cash bribes out of the total $500,000 solicited by Warner. Allegedly.

Warner was arrested on January 28, 2015, and charged with soliciting bribes. He faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and up to a $1.5 million fine, if convicted. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Further, criminal complaints are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Here’s a link to the Department of Justice announcement.

Sucks to be that guy, right?

But can you picture the scene? We can.

1 INT. – Fancy restaurant, crowded, noisy

The camera pushes in and focuses on one table in middle of the hustle and bustle. Seated at the table are three men. Two are dressed in expensive dark suits and one is dressed in a polyester leisure suit. They lean close together, whispering.

WARNER:

 

Don’t say a thing. Not a thing.

 

The two other men, the ones in the serious suits, look at each other, puzzled.

WARNER (CONTINUED):

 

What I want you to do, is just type your words into my cell phone. Just type what you want to say.

 

One serious guy looks at the other serious guy and shrugs. Whatever. The second serious guy picks up the phone (which is an old style flip-phone) and starts to type. As he types, the camera focuses on the screen of the cell phone and we see the words appear.

CELL PHONE SCREEN:

 

What can we do for you, Mr. Warner?

 

WARNER takes the phone and erases the words. Then he types.

CELL PHONE SCREEN:

 

I can do something for you. I can make that bad CPARS data disappear from FAPIIS.

 

One serious guy takes the phone, frowns, and hands it to the other serious guy. They look at each other.

Honestly, we can’t go on. It’s just too painful to keep typing. Can you even imagine? Can you see maybe George Clooney and Jim Caviezel as the two serious guys, and maybe Jason Lee (or even Brad Pitt) as the (allegedly) corrupt Army Contracting Official?

Nah. Never gonna happen. Nobody in Hollywood would ever believe such shenanigans could happen in real life.