The defendant allegedly referred to himself as ‘the Godfather at Camp Pendleton’, where he was a supervisor for construction and service contracts.
Natividad Lara Cervantes, aka Nate Cervantes, age 64 of San Diego, California, was arrested last week after accepting US$10,000 (£6,615) cash from an FBI cooperating witness (CW). The US$10,000 represented a partial payment of a US$40,000 bribe.
Cervantes allegedly used his position to extort bribes from businesses seeking to do business at Camp Pendleton. He is currently a US Department of Defense employee and a supervisor for construction and service contracts, inspection branch, at Camp Pendleton.
According to the complaint, Cervantes, was receiving the cash in return for assisting a contractor in obtaining a new US$4 million flooring contract at Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps training base.
The complaint alleges that Cervantes is engaged in receiving bribes and other crimes related to his management of construction contracts at Camp Pendleton. It is alleged that, dating back to September 2008, Cervantes used his position to extort bribes from businesses seeking to do business there. He allegedly received thousands of dollars in cash payments and remodelling work on his condominium.
Last week, an FBI CW met with Cervantes and agreed to pay a US$40,000 bribe in exchange for Cervantes’ assistance in obtaining a new US$4m contract at Camp Pendleton. The first payment of US$20,000 was to be paid on Thursday, 28 March and the remaining US$20,000 was to be paid upon the awarding of the contract. This meeting was monitored by federal agents.
The FBI CW met with Cervantes at a local business to make the first payment. During this meeting, the FBI CW and Cervantes discussed among other things the payment schedule and the source of funds for the bribe payments. At the conclusion of this meeting, the FBI CW handed Cervantes an envelope containing US$10,000 cash. After receiving the envelope, Cervantes was arrested by federal agents.
The FBI said that an arrest itself is not evidence that the defendant committed the crimes charged. The defendant is presumed innocent until the government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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