Two Defense Contractors Charged in $1.25 Million Bribery Scheme Tainting Hawaii Innovation Campus Contracts
On May 20, 2026, the Justice Department announced federal charges against two defense contractors: Leonard Pick, 62, of Palm Beach Shores, Florida, and Brian Kent, 59, of Tampa, Florida. The indictment, filed May 14 in the District of Hawaii and unsealed on May 20, charges both men, who have been arrested.
The indictment alleges that from January 2021 to October 2022, Pick and Kent conspired to bribe a U.S. Army employee with approximately $1.25 million paid over five years, fraudulently inflating government contracting costs to cover the bribes. The scheme affected the construction and operation of the U.S. Army Pacific Command's Hawaii-Pacific Innovation Campus, intended as a hub for testing new Department of War technologies. Kent is further alleged, from September 2020 to October 2022, to have inflated contract costs to route approximately $680,000 to his personal consulting business.
Each defendant is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and major fraud against the United States, one count of bribery, one count of major fraud and one count of wire fraud, with Kent facing an additional major fraud count; bribery carries a maximum of 15 years in prison. The case is being prosecuted by the Antitrust Division's San Francisco Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii, with the FBI, Army Criminal Investigative Division, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, GSA Office of Inspector General and NCIS investigating. An indictment is merely an allegation, and both defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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