William Mitchell, the former CEO of Maryland Broadband Cooperative (MdBC), has pleaded guilty to charges of accepting bribes from a subcontractor from 2014 to 2018, according to WBOC-TV. MdBC currently has 79 members which are internet service providers, government entities, health care providers, institutions of higher education, electric cooperatives, and other strategic partners who support expanding broadband in rural Maryland.
MdBC paid Bel Air Underground, located in Baltimore County, more than $11 million as a subcontractor for broadband network work, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ). That included $7.9 million for installing a fiber optic connection from NASA Wallops Island to Patuxent River Naval Station in St. Mary’s County, MD.
The DoJ says in return, Mitchell received cash payments; an all-terrain vehicle, a John Deere Gator; and renovations and improvements to his home from the former President of Bel Air Underground Services, Wayne Kacher Jr.
Kacher has been convicted of providing kickbacks to Mitchell involving federal funds, according to the Patch. Kacher also owned Baltimore County-based Pro Comm Engineering and Locating Services LLC, which acted as a subcontractor on projects for MdBC. Kacher faces a combined maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
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