United States v. Bowling

108 F. Supp. 3d 343, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70802, 2015 WL 3541475
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. North Carolina
DecidedMay 26, 2015
DocketNo. 7:14-CR-98-D
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 108 F. Supp. 3d 343 (United States v. Bowling) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Bowling, 108 F. Supp. 3d 343, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70802, 2015 WL 3541475 (E.D.N.C. 2015).

Opinion

[345]*345ORDER

JAMES C. DEVER III, Chief Judge.

On November 5, 2014, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina indicted James Bowling, Craig Kol-hagen, and Dennis Pennington [D.E. 1]. The indictment charges all three defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349 (count one), wire fraud and aiding and abetting in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2 (count two),' and major fraud against the United States and aiding and abetting in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1031(a) and 2 (count three). See Indictment [D.E. 1] 1-15. The indictment also charges Kolhagen with disclosing source selection information in violation of 41 U.S.C. § 2102(a) (count four). Id. 15-16. Finally, the indictment charges Bowling and Pennington with obtaining source selection information in violation of 41 U.S.C. § 2102(b) (count five). Id. 17.

On February 2, 2015, defendants Bowling and Pennington (“Valour defendants”) moved to dismiss counts one, two, three, and five, pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b) and the Fifth Amendment. See Valour Defs.’ Mot. Dismiss [D.E. 28]. On February 13, 2015, the United States (“government”) responded in opposition to the Valour defendants’ motion to dismiss [D.E. 35]. On February 18, 2015, the Valour defendants replied [D.E. 37-2]. On February 19, 2015, Kolhagen moved to dismiss counts one, two, three, and four, pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b) and the Fifth Amendment. See Kolhagen Mot. Dismiss [D.E. 47]. On March 2, 2015, the government filed a surreply to the Valour defendants’ reply [D.E. 57]. On March 11, 2015, the government responded in opposition to Kolhagen’s motion to dismiss [D.E. 60]. On May 4, 2015, the court heard oral argument. As explained below, the court grants defendants’ motions to dismiss and dismisses the indictment without prejudice.

I.

Valour, LLC Leading Edge Solutions (“Valour”) is an aircraft and helicopter maintenance company. Indictment ¶ l.1 Pennington is Valour’s CEO and Bowling is Valour’s president. Id. ¶¶ 3-4. Pennington and Bowling are former members of the United States Marine Corps. Id. Kolhagen is a Chief Warrant Officer with the United States Marine Corps and, during all relevant times, served as the Contracting Officer’s Representative (“COR”) for the HMX-1 squadron (the squadron “responsible for providing helicopter transport for the President and Vice President of the United States”). Id. ¶¶ 2, 5. Bowling and Kolhagen worked together as helicopter mechanics in the HMX-1 squadron from 1998 to 2001. Id. ¶ 6.

In July 2010, the chief mechanic of the HMX-1 squadron asked the Department of the Navy to award a sole-source contract for maintenance of the HMX-1 squadron helicopters to Valour. Id. ¶ 14. Valour was the sole bidder and won the three-year contract, which was valued at $3.28 million. Id. ¶¶ 14-15.

In July 2011, the Marine Corps appointed Kolhagen the COR for the HMX-1 squadron. Id. ¶ 12. In this capacity, Kol-hagen oversaw the performance of contracts related to aviation maintenance for the squadron and provided assistance with [346]*346acquisition planning and the contracting process. Id. Soon after becoming COR, Kolhagen, working with Bowling, asked the Navy to increase the annual contract value to Valour by over $300,000. Id. ¶ 16. The Navy agreed to modify the contract. Id.

In spring 2013, Kolhagen learned that the contracting authority for the HMX-1 squadron had been transferred to the Marine Corps Installations East Contracting Department (“MCI-East”) at Camp Le-jeune in North Carolina and that the next maintenance contract would be competitively awarded. Id. ¶¶ 17-18. Kolhagen disclosed this nonpublic information to Bowling. Id. ¶ 18. On April 29, 2013, Bowling, the incumbent contractor’s president, sent Kolhagen an email in which he told Kolhagen how to draft the statement of work and the technical requirements for the next contract. Id. ¶ 19. Kolhagen did not disclose to officials at MCI-East that Bowling provided suggestions concerning the drafting process for the next contract. See id. ¶¶ 19, 26. Kolhagen also requested that the bidding be limited to designated Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses, of which Valour was one. Id. ¶ 20.

On October 8, 2013, an MCI-East official internally distributed an Independent Government Cost Estimate (“IGCE”). Id. ¶21. The IGCE indicated an estimated annual cost of approximately $840,000 for the next three-year maintenance contract for the HMX-1 squadron. Id.

On October 9, 2013, Kolhagen emailed the IGCE to Bowling and Pennington. Id. ¶22. On October 11, 2013, Pennington and Bowling replied to Kolhagen and gave him data suggesting the need to increase the annual labor costs in the IGCE by approximately $560,000. Id. ¶ 23. Kolha-gen suggested to officials at MCI-East to raise the IGCE from $840,000 annually to $1.4 million annually. Id. ¶ 24. Kolhagen did not disclose to his superiors or to officials at MCI-East that he had disclosed the IGCE to Bowling or Pennington. See id. ¶ 25. Officials at MCI-East agreed to increase the IGCE to approximately $1,196 million annually. Id. ¶ 27.

On November 6, 2013, MCI-East publicly issued its solicitation for the new contract. Id. ¶ 28. Six aviation maintenance companies, including Valour, submitted bids. Id. ¶ 29. On December 5,2013, Val-our submitted a bid with an annual price of $1‘,142 million. Id. ¶ 32.

After receiving the bids, the Marine Corps convened a source selection board at Camp Lejeune. Id. ¶ 33. The purpose of the source selection board was to review and grade the bids based on the bidders’ responses to the technical criteria and the statement of work. Id. Price was a secondary consideration to technical competence. Id. The source selection board would then make a recommendation to the senior contracting official at MCI-East, who had the authority to award the contract. Id.

Kolhagen’s command told him not to participate in the source selection board because of his personal relationship with Valour’s officers. Id. ¶ 34. Nevertheless, on December 10, 2013, Kolhagen traveled to Camp Lejeune to participate in the source selection board. Id. ¶35. Such participation is normally appropriate for the COR of the Marine unit receiving service from the contract. Id. ¶ 34.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
108 F. Supp. 3d 343, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70802, 2015 WL 3541475, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bowling-nced-2015.