A former Air Force master sergeant pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to his role in a fraud scheme that left the Air Force overpaying at least $37 million for information-technology contracts for its bases in the Pacific. (Joshua Magbanua/U.S. Air Force)
A former Air Force master sergeant pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to his role in a nine-year fraud scheme that tricked the Air Force into overpaying at least $37 million for information-technology contracts for its bases in the Pacific.
Alan Hayward James, 51, of Texas, and his conspirators inflated the costs of IT services and rigged the contract bidding process so companies involved in the scheme would be selected. All agreed to share the extra money among James, James’ family members, the family of an Air Force civilian employee, and other coconspirators. They also spent the money on a three-night stay at a luxury resort in Hawaii and channeled bribes to a federal public official they nicknamed “Godfather.”
The trip to the resort on the North Shore of Oahu included golf, horseback riding and massages and cost more than $234,000, according to court documents. An email sent about the trip noted it occurred during a holiday weekend in October 2023 and provided “airfare for our off-island crew.”
Money moved through a shell company James established in November 2017 named T.R.A.P. LLC, according to court documents. Some of the payments made to friends and family were listed in James’ ledgers as salaries to people with nicknames in variations of the words “godfather,” “godmother” and “Al Capone.”
The Justice Department and court records did not name the other people or companies involved. Officials did not respond Thursday to questions. Court documents reference at least 11 individual coconspirators and eight companies.
The specific charges to which James pleaded guilty in a federal courtroom in Hawaii were conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery and conspiracy to rig bids, according to the Justice Department. He also agreed to pay back more than $1.4 million to the Defense Department.
James is out on a $50,000 bond, and a sentencing hearing is set for Oct. 7 with Judge Shanlyn Park, according to court documents. An attorney for James did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.
James agreed to testify in future court proceedings involving codefendants and to cooperate with law enforcement, according to the plea agreement.
After 20 years in the Air Force, James left in 2018 as a master sergeant, according to his official service record. His last duty station was Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he worked as a program manager.
Aside from falsely inflating the cost of contracts, James told his coconspirators — who were supposed to be competitively bidding against one another to win government contracts — what amount to bid to circumvent the competitive process, according to court documents.
The crimes occurred between April 2016 and April 2025.
“Criminals who rig bids and commit fraud on government contracts steal from taxpayers and threaten the public’s confidence in government institutions,” Daniel Glad, acting deputy assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, said in a statement.
The Air Force referred questions to the Justice Department.
