WHEELING, W.Va. — Two former West Virginia Division of Highways officials and a Marshall University engineering professor were among a group charged in a long-running, pay-for-play scheme involving bloated inspection contracts, federal prosecutors claim.
U.S. Attorney Bill Ihlenfeld, after a yearlong investigation, claimed the men received bribes and kickbacks for steering state DOH contracts worth $1.5 million to a South Carolina-based engineering company.
Bruce E. Kenney, III, Andrew P. Nichols, James Travis Miller, and Mark R. Whitt were charged in the scheme, which existed from 2008 through 2014 and saw highway work routed to the Dennis Corporation of Columbia, S.C.
Bayliss and Ramey, Inc., a Putnam County highway electrical contractor, was also charged.
Kenney, 60, of Norfolk, Va., was the alleged mastermind behind the scheme.
“Bruce Kenney was the rainmaker,” said Ihlenfeld. “He was a high-level trusted employee within the DOH Traffic Engineering Division. He used his position in order to bypass normal state procedures and funnel structural inspection work to the Dennis Corporation.”
In exchange, federal investigators allege Kenney received $200,000 in compensation along with extravagant all-expenses paid vacations to the Bahamas and Mexico. Ihlenfeld said at one point Kenney simultaneously worked for the state DOH and Dennis Corporation. He faces charges of honest services wire fraud conspiracy and conspiracy to impede the IRS.
Nichols, 38, of Lesage, W.Va. is an engineering professor at Marshall University and also worked as manager of the West Virginia division of the Dennis Corporation.
“He was involved in making sure financial relationships were made properly and cash payments were made,” said Ihlenfeld. “He’s also charged with lying to federal agents.”
Nichols was indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and money laundering, along with obstructing justice and making false statements.
Miller, 40, of Hurricane, W.Va, worked for the highways division before leaving to join the Dennis Corporation. He is alleged to have delivered covert payments to Kenney in exchange for official actions done in favor of Dennis Corporation. Miller was charged with money laundering conspiracy.
Whitt, 52, of Winfield, W.Va, was the president and owner of Bayliss and Ramey, Inc., which was awarded the statewide signal maintenance contract in 2009.
“Whitt got pulled in to help funnel this inspection work to the Dennis Corporation under a signal maintenance contract that didn’t call for inspections to be done,” Ihlenfeld said. “Mr. Whitt marked up the invoices he submitted to the state of West Virginia by 20 percent. At the end of the day, the state of West Virginia had to pay higher prices for engineering services than it really should have.”
The expanding investigation could produce more indictments.
“When we returned an indictment last September involving the Division of Highways, the next day we got a phone call about this case,” Ihlenfeld said. “We’ve charged four people and this one is still ongoing. There are going to be more charges filed in the not-too-distant future. There are others involved in this scheme.”
The state Division of Highways issued a statement saying it has no tolerance for employees who engage in illegal activity:
“Employees who are determined to have engaged in illegal activity will face disciplinary action and/or termination.
“As part of its ongoing initiative that identified anti-competitive behavior by asphalt contractors as addressed in DOH’s recent antitrust suit, the Highways Commissioner launched an initiative nearly two years ago to reform its contracts with contractors, promote competition and reduce the risk of illegal activities. The initiative is ongoing, and the WVDOH remains committed to disciplining any employee who abuses the public’s trust.”