Former FBI Management and Program Analyst Arrested and Pleaded Guilty to Bribery of a Public Official and Making and Subscribing a False Federal Income Tax Return

On December 14, 2020, a former FBI Management and Program Analyst previously assigned to the Facilities and Finance Division within FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. was arrested and pleaded guilty to one count of bribery of a public official and one count of making and subscribing a false federal income tax return.  James Heslep was charged and pleaded guilty in the District of Idaho.  According to the factual statement in support of the guilty plea, Heslep was responsible for oversight of construction and service contracts for FBI buildings across the country, and from in or about 2016 through in or about 2018, Heslep corruptly demanded and received something of value personally, in return for being influenced in the performance of an official act.  Specifically, Heslep admitted to receiving payments of $120,000, a beach house rental, sports tickets, a fiftieth birthday party, first class airline and train tickets, and other items of value from a federal government sub-contractor.  Heslep further admitted that in exchange for the items of value, Heslep recommended that the FBI directly pay the full lodging per diem payments for the sub-contractor’s company employees who stayed in the sub-contractor’s Pocatello, Idaho residence; provided a draft Statement of Work for a bridge contract for the FBI’s Pocatello Data Center project to the sub-contractor, whose company was expected to benefit from the proposed contract, and incorporated the sub-contractor’s edits in the final bridge contract; and advocated for increased labor rates for the bridge contract that would benefit the sub-contractor’s company, among other official acts.  In addition, Heslept admitted that on or about October 13, 2018, he willfully signed and caused to be filed a Form 1040 federal income tax return for tax year 2017 which did not contain income Heslep received from payments made by the sub-contractor, and therefore the tax return was not true and correct.  The investigation is being conducted by the OIG’s Denver Field Office and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division; forensic assistance was provided by the OIG’s Cyber Investigations Office.