THE federal court on Friday sentenced to five years probation a contractor who bribed an employee of the Department of Public Works.
U.S. District Court Judge Alex R. Munson granted the federal government’s motion for a downward departure from the sentencing guidelines, or a recommendation of five years probation, due to defendant Epitacio L. Lumactod’s “substantial assistance and full cooperation to investigators.”
Munson ordered Lumactod to immediately pay $30,000 and $100 in special assessment fee. Munson told Lumactod that normally, one of the conditions on sentencing for convicted aliens is deportation.
But because the defendant’s case was not a violent crime and did not involve illegal drugs, the court will forward the matter to the Department of Labor and Immigration for a deportation hearing, Munson said.
Lumactod was charged with bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. He entered a guilty plea in June 2000.
Court papers showed that the defendant bribed Leonardo Manacop, then an estimator at DPW Technical Services Division, with a copier machine as well as with money in Dec. 1996 and early part of 1997.
In return for bribes that were worth $10,000, Manacop signed off on certain work that should not be signed off and made improper estimates on certain projects. Manacop entered a guilty plea and was also subsequently sentenced to five years probation in 2000.
