Bribery Lands Bel Air Man In Prison For 1 Year

BALTIMORE, MD — A Bel Air man was sentenced to one year in prison and one year of home confinement for accepting bribes as a civilian employee at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG). He also will be on supervised probation for three years, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Rainier Ramos, 50, of Bel Air, was sentenced to prison in federal court this week for bribery related to his job as a civilian IT professional for the U.S. Army Public Health Command at APG. As part of his sentence, he must pay restitution of $2,215,779 and a money judgment of $33,000.

Ramos pleaded guilty to bribery in March, admitting he solicited and accepted bribes from 2009 to 2016 in exchange for helping a company get a multi-million-dollar contract. He accepted approximately $33,000 in benefits, according to justice officials.

Ramos admitted to seeking and accepting, among other things:

• Rounds of golf
• Courtside tickets to Washington Wizards
• Tickets to New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Hornets games
• Corporate luxury suite access at FedEx Field for Redskins games
• Gift cards

Ramos faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for bribery.

• Bel Air Man Bribed Company In Exchange For $50M APG Contract: U.S. Attorney

The Virginia man whose company received the nearly $37 million contract was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the conspiracy, according to the Maryland district attorney.

Bhupesh Wadhawan, 40, of Ashburn, Virginia, pleaded guilty. His McClean, Virginia-based company — Link Solutions Inc. (LCI) — was awarded more than $36 million from the U.S. government to deploy and configure 70 desktop and laptop computers at APG, the district attorney reported.

In addition to five years in federal prison, Wadhawan must pay $2,215,779 in restitution.

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