An official with a government agency that President Donald Trump targeted for elimination has pleaded guilty, along with three businessmen, to being part of a decade-long bribery scheme that involved more than $500 million in taxpayer money, the Justice Department has announced.
In a news release published Thursday, the DOJ said Roderick Watson, 57, a contracting officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, steered contracting work to specific companies in return for bribes.
The payments, according to the release, included “cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives.”
BREAKING: USAID official and 3 company executives plead guilty in fraud and bribery scheme involving at least 14 contracts worth over $550 million
USAID Official Roderick Watson took bribes, was showered with lavish gifts— including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets… pic.twitter.com/jBpXTIHxg9
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 13, 2025
And, as The Daily Wire noted, it was all possible because of Small Business Administration “set-aside” programs that give federal contracting preferences to businesses owned by minorities and women.
The three businessmen involved in the long-term scheme were identified in the release as Walter Barnes, 46, of Potomac, Maryland; Darryl Britt, 64, of Myakka City, Florida; and Paul Young, 62, of Columbia, Maryland.
Watson has pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official, according to the release. Barnes, Britt, and Young have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe a public official, according to the news release. Each of the four faces a maximum prison term of five years.
Three USAID contractors pleaded guilty to bribing a USAID official to get more than HALF A BILLION dollars in contracts.
The fraud was made possible due to the government’s racial “set-aside” laws, where blacks and other minorities can be awarded contracts without competition. pic.twitter.com/HCnaiWSNKn
— Luke Rosiak (@lukerosiak) June 14, 2025
“The defendants sought to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers through bribery and fraud,” Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in the release.
“Those who engage in bribery schemes to exploit the U.S. Small Business Administration’s vital economic programs for small businesses — whether individuals or corporations acting through them — will be held to account.”
According to the news release, Watson’s actions in exchange for the bribes included recommending the other men’s companies to “other USAID decisionmakers for non-competitive contract awards, disclosing sensitive procurement information during the competitive bidding process, providing positive performance evaluations to a government agency, and approving decisions on the contracts, such as increased funding and a security clearance.”
“Watson exploited his position at USAID to line his pockets with bribes in exchange for more than $550 million in contracts. While he helped three company owners and presidents bypass the fair bidding process, he was showered with cash and lavish gifts,” Guy Ficco, chief of the IRS Criminal Investigation, said in the release.
Is there more undiscovered major fraud related to USAID?
The U.S. Agency for International Development was a top target of the new Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency shortly after Trump took office on Jan. 20.
By early February, Trump and DOGE, then headed by billionaire Elon Musk, had widely publicized the kind of projects USAID saw fit to spend taxpayer money on, such as a transgender opera in Colombia, as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described it, and various “diversity, equity, and inclusion” efforts around the world.
In addition to placing USAID under the control of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department, Trump moved to slash more than $8 billion from the agency’s budget, along with starving other favorites of the left, such as NPR and PBS.
While Trump’s high-profile efforts to reform or get rid of USAID sparked plenty of angst inside the liberal bubble of the Beltway, the administration stood more than firm in its public position.
The fact that a USAID official and three others have pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme, and that the scheme directly involved “set-aside” programs aimed at helping minority businesses, isn’t going to make the agency or its defenders look any better.
“Their scheme violated the public trust by corrupting the federal government’s procurement process,” Galeotti said in the release.
“Anybody who cares about good and effective government should be concerned about the waste, fraud, and abuse in government agencies, including USAID.”
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