Summary

On March 15, 2013, Angela Jannell, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Alexandria, Virginia, to 6 months of home confinement, one year of supervised release and 40 hours of community service for concealing that her husband took more than $200,000 in bribes to ensure a Virginia Railway Express (VRE) subcontractor would be retained by VRE.  VRE is a grantee of the U.S. Department of Transportation that receives millions of dollars each year to help improve passenger and freight rail service. 

Our investigation revealed that from 2003 and continuing through March 2012, Jannell's husband accepted as much as $4,000 per month in return for giving favorable evaluations that would ensure an individual and this person's company would be retained as a subcontractor for VRE.  Jannell was aware of this arrangement.  Her husband concealed the bribes by sending monthly invoices to the subcontractor from a fraudulent company and falsely billing the company for services that were never rendered.  Jannell signed the paperwork to create the fraudulent company for which she was the President.  Jannell's husband was responsible for oversight of VRE landscaping contracts and maintenance of VRE stations and facilities.

The total amount of bribes paid was between $200,000 and $400,000.  Jannell used the money to pay for household bills and expenses. 

We are conducting this investigation jointly with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.