A former General Services Administration (GSA) contracting officer’s representative received a federal prison term this week for his role in agreeing to accept bribes from construction companies.
U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman sentenced Lennie Lamont Miller, 61, of Brandywine, Maryland, to three years in prison for two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal official. Miller pled guilty in January to conspiring with Christopher Brackins, 53, of Mt. Airy, Maryland, to direct GSA federal project work to Company A, which Brackins owned. The prosecution is part of the Trump administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence alongside Acting Inspector General Robert C. Erickson of the GSA Office of Inspector General; Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office; James R. Ives, DoD Deputy Inspector General for Investigations and Director of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; and Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.
According to court documents, Miller and Brackins conspired between 2018 and 2021 for Miller to exercise his authority over the GSA contracting process, directing federal project work to Company A in exchange for cash and other things of value. Miller paired Company A with prime contractors Company B and Company C on GSA federal projects, and in return solicited and accepted cash, checks, payments for repairs to his vehicle, and payments for repairs at a residence owned by his relative.
Brackins provided Miller with approximately $50,000 in money and other benefits. In late 2018, Brackins paid a fraudulently inflated bonus to an employee, then directed that employee to hand Miller $8,000 in cash from the check. In early 2021, Brackins paid Miller $25,000 at Miller’s direction, funneled through an intermediary’s air-conditioning repair business.
Miller also conspired with James Tillman, 59, of Washington, D.C., owner of Company D, in a similar scheme beginning in early 2020 and continuing until at least mid-2021. Miller introduced Tillman to Company C personnel, pairing Company D and Company C to bid on GSA projects, and in exchange solicited cash, a sports car, and moving expenses for his romantic partner.
GSA is a federal agency that manages federal properties. Company A and Company D are general construction companies that performed subcontracting work on GSA projects.
Tillman pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal public official in February 2025; his sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 2 p.m. Brackins pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal public official, wire fraud, and unlawful possession of a machine gun in April 2025; his sentencing is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22, at 10 a.m.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division, which the release describes as focused on investigating and prosecuting fraud against the American people. That work supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse within federal benefit programs.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the GSA Office of Inspector General, FBI, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and DHS Office of Inspector General for their work on the investigation, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex P. Treiger and Acting Chief Edward P. Sullivan of the Public Integrity Section, who prosecuted the case.
