A former USAID contracting officer and three corporate executives have pleaded guilty to running a decade-long bribery scheme that steered over $550 million in federal contracts, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
The two companies involved—Apprio, Inc. and PM Consulting Group LLC (operating as Vistant)—also admitted criminal liability. Both firms entered deferred prosecution agreements with the government.
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Roderick Watson, 57, of Woodstock, Maryland, a former USAID contracting officer, admitted he accepted bribes to influence the award of federal contracts.
Walter Barnes, 46, of Potomac, Maryland, the owner and president of Vistant, and Darryl Britt, 64, of Myakka City, Florida, the owner and president of Apprio, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery. Britt also admitted to securities fraud.
Paul Young, 62, of Columbia, Maryland, president of a subcontractor tied to both companies, also pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy.
The scheme began in 2013, when Watson accepted bribes from Britt to help Apprio, a certified small business under the SBA 8(a) program, secure exclusive federal contracts. After Apprio exited the program in 2018, the bribery continued—with Vistant taking over as prime contractor and Apprio serving as subcontractor, all under contracts Watson helped influence through 2022.
According to prosecutors, Barnes and Britt funneled bribes to Watson, often through Young, including cash, laptops, NBA suite tickets, a country club wedding, mortgage down payments, phones, and even jobs for Watson’s relatives. The bribes were masked through fake payroll records, shell companies, and false invoices.
In total, Watson allegedly received more than $1 million in bribes. In return, he recommended Apprio and Vistant for non-competitive awards, leaked sensitive bid information, submitted favorable evaluations, and approved contracts that benefited the two companies.
“The defendants sought to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers through bribery and fraud,”
— Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division
“Their scheme violated the public trust by corrupting the federal government’s procurement process.”
In 2022, Barnes and Watson also defrauded a small business investment company (SBIC) by securing a $14 million loan for Vistant. Barnes used the funds to issue himself a $10 million dividend, with Watson providing a glowing endorsement of Vistant’s performance—without disclosing the bribery scheme—to help secure the loan.
In 2023, Britt misled a separate SBIC-backed private equity firm into purchasing a 20% stake in Apprio’s parent company for $4 million, and extending a $4 million loan, again concealing the bribes paid to Watson.
Both Apprio and Vistant admitted to bribery and securities fraud, and agreed to three-year deferred prosecution deals. As part of the agreement, both companies must cooperate with investigators, implement new compliance programs, and report their remediation progress to the DOJ.
Due to financial limitations, Apprio will pay a $500,000 civil settlement, while Vistant will pay $100,000—amounts the DOJ determined the companies could afford without endangering their operations.
“Watson exploited his position at USAID to line his pockets with bribes in exchange for more than $550 million in contracts,”
— Guy Ficco, Chief of IRS Criminal Investigations
“IRS-CI works to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure government funds are awarded based on merit—not corruption.”
Sentencing Details:
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Roderick Watson faces up to 15 years in prison, with sentencing set for October 6.
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Walter Barnes faces up to 5 years, sentencing on October 14.
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Darryl Britt faces up to 5 years, sentencing on July 28.
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Paul Young faces up to 5 years, sentencing on September 3.
