LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — A man who worked at Fort Polk in Louisiana has been charged with accepting $25,000 in bribes from a company's co-owner in exchange for his help in securing government contracts at the U.S. Army base.
An indictment handed up last Thursday by a federal grand jury charges Robert A. Wilson, 51, of Leander, with 21 counts of receiving an illegal gratuity by a public official.
Wilson was an engineer in Fort Polk's Directorate of Public Works and worked on task orders and contracts for delivering construction materials and providing services on the base, the indictment says. It accuses Wilson of accepting 21 payments from an unnamed co-owner of Leesville-based Apeck Construction Inc. between July 2007 and May 2010.
In exchange, Wilson agreed to help ensure that Apeck Construction was "the source, supplier or provider of construction material for construction, supply and delivery contracts at Fort Polk," the indictment says.
A spokesman for U.S. Attorney David Joseph's office said he didn't know if Wilson has an attorney. Nobody from Apeck Construction immediately responded to an email and phone call seeking comment.
Wilson is scheduled to make his initial court appearance July 12 in Lake Charles.
Fort Polk spokeswoman Kim Reischling said Wilson no longer works at the base, but she could not provide any additional information about his employment.
