Conspiracy involved granting $3.1 million in contracts to vendors who gave a cut in return
A former manager at the Gartner research firm was sentenced to four years in prison for steering $3.1 million in multimedia contracts to two outside vendors in return for kickbacks.
Benjamin Cardona also has to forfeit $222,182.13 he collected during the period September 2002 to March 2005 when he accepted the bribes, according to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
Cardona pleaded guilty May 4 to commercial bribery, mail fraud, money laundering and conspiring to commit those crimes, Bharara says.
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The conspiracy consisted of Cardona repeatedly hiring multimedia help from two New York-based companies, according to the indictments. Principals behind those companies funneled money to Cardona through a company that ran an adult-film Web site, the indictments say.
One of the conspirators who helped the cash flow through the adult-film company, Wilfredo Hernandez, also pleaded guilty in the case and is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 15, Bharara says.
