Navy Worker Pleads Guilty in Bribe Case

A buyer for a Navy ship repair office pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge that he accepted bribes and kickbacks in exchange for providing inside information about contracts.

Augusto Lee Saca, 54, Burlingame, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in San Diego to conspiracy to defraud the United States and to bribe a public official, a charge that could mean a maximum of 15 years in prison.

Saca will be sentenced April 1.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert J. Lauchlan said Saca was a buyer at the Navy’s Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity office and had access to confidential information about ship repair contracts and bids submitted by repair companies.

“Saca sold this highly confidential and secret government information, such as the amount of the bids of competitors, documents submitted by competitors and the amount of what would be the winning bid, to bidders willing to pay a bribe or kickback to himself and others,” Lauchlan said.

Bidders with the inside information would then submit their own bids with estimates just below bids of their competitors.

Saca, the only person named in the indictment, received $2,000 to $5,000 in bribes and kickbacks, Lauchlan said.