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Jami Anthony, age 47, of Hayes, Virginia, pleaded guilty to receiving bribes as a federal official in US District Court in Central Islip on Monday, June 26.
According to the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District, Anthony is the former Small Business Program Liaison and Procurement Officer for the DOE.
Between December 2017 and December 2020, she was paid nearly $19,000 by Michael Montenes, the owner of Hauppauge-based M.S. Hi-Tech, Incorporated, a distributor of electronic components.
The money served as a bribe to persuade Anthony to enter into contracts with Montenes’ business worth $969,000 for electrical components that were supplied to the DOE’s Virginia laboratory, prosecutors said.
Montenes reportedly mailed the payments, which ranged from $500 to $7,200, from Long Island to Anthony in Virginia.
According to investigators, some of the electronic components that Montenes’ company sold to DOE failed and caused a fire in July 2021, resulting in approximately $1.8 million in needed repairs and other costs.
Montenes pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges in May 2023, as Daily Voice previously reported.
He is currently awaiting sentencing and faces up to 15 years behind bars.
As part of his guilty plea, he agreed to forfeit approximately $969,000 and to pay DOE more than $1.8 million in restitution.
Anthony also faces up to 15 years in prison when she’s sentenced at a later date. She agreed to forfeit approximately $18,800.
“Motivated by greed, Anthony’s actions betrayed the Department of Energy and resulted in the purchase of electronic components that caused major fire damage to a government laboratory,” US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
“Corruption undermines the integrity of competitive bidding in the procurement process and will be aggressively prosecuted.”
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