The manager of a former subcontractor for UCOR — the URS-CH2M conglomerate priming decontamination and decommissioning at the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge site near Oak Ridge, Tenn. — faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government, court documents filed July 18 show.
Joseph Armes, manager of the defunct Transportation, Operation and Professional Services Inc., “knowingly and willfully conspired and agreed with other persons both known and unknown to the United States Attorney,” Nancy Harr, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, wrote in court papers.
“The defendant will plead guilty to the Information,” Armes’ attorneys wrote in the plea agreement.
Armes’ arraignment is set for Aug. 11, according to the court docket.
According to information filed by Harr’s office, Armes’ former company, known as TOPS, in May 2011 signed a DOE mentor-protege agreement. That deal was signed by then-UCOR President Leo Sain and Armes’ wife, Joni Armes.
The objective of this agreement, according to information filed by the U.S. attorney, was “to assist TOPS by providing UCOR’s expertise in government contracts to enable TOPS to develop expertise in performing government contracts.” The deal also let UCOR award TOPS a waste-hauling subcontract without putting the work out to bid, according to court papers.
TOPS, however, employed one of Sain’s family members — a fact the company attempted to conceal by routing payments to this person through another local company, according to court papers. The deception amounts to an attempt to defraud DOE, the U.S. attorney wrote.
Meanwhile, according to court papers, Armes also “filed false business and personal tax returns” to illegally reduce his federal tax bills. Among the offenses were “improper deductions and losses that offset defendant’s tax liabilities.”
