PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2026) — A Palm Beach Shores man and a Tampa man have been charged in a federal bribery and fraud case tied to Department of War technology innovation contracts, according to the Justice Department.
Leonard Pick, 62, of Palm Beach Shores, and Brian Kent, 59, of Tampa, are accused of taking part in a conspiracy that federal prosecutors say corrupted the competitive procurement process for a Department of War technology innovation lab in the Pacific.
The indictment was filed May 14 in the District of Hawaii and unsealed May 20, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors say the alleged scheme affected the construction and operation of the U.S. Army Pacific Command’s Hawaii-Pacific Innovation Campus, which was intended to serve as a hub for testing new technologies for the Department of War.
The case gives South Florida a direct connection to a larger federal procurement investigation, with one of the two defendants identified by prosecutors as a Palm Beach Shores resident.
According to the indictment, Pick and Kent allegedly conspired from January 2021 to October 2022 to bribe a U.S. Army employee with approximately $1.25 million over five years. Prosecutors allege the defendants fraudulently inflated government contracting costs to include the bribe payments.
The indictment also alleges that Kent, beginning around September 2020 and continuing through October 2022, defrauded the government by inflating contract costs to include about $680,000 in payments intended for and sent to Kent’s personal consulting business.
Pick and Kent are each charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and major fraud against the United States, bribery, major fraud against the United States and wire fraud. Kent is also charged with a second count of major fraud against the United States.
Federal prosecutors did not allege in the provided release that the case involved any local government contracts in Palm Beach County. The local connection is Pick’s residence in Palm Beach Shores.
Justice Department officials said the case is part of broader federal investigations into fraud and collusion in the defense contracting industry in Hawaii.
“When defense contractors obtain government-funded work through bribery and fraud, they rob our military and the American people of the benefits of a fair, competitive procurement process,” Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Daniel W. Glad of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said in the announcement.
U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson for the District of Hawaii said the case involves alleged corruption in military procurement, which he said harms companies that compete fairly and steals from taxpayers.
The investigation is being handled by the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii, the FBI, the Department of the Army Criminal Investigative Division, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. General Services Administration’s Office of Inspector General and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
The Justice Department said the Procurement Collusion Strike Force is also involved. The strike force focuses on antitrust crimes and related fraud schemes affecting government procurement, grants and public program funding.
The potential penalties are significant, though no sentence has been imposed. Prosecutors said conspiracy to commit bribery and major fraud carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Bribery carries up to 15 years in prison and a fine of either $250,000 or three times the monetary value of the bribe, whichever is greater.
Major fraud against the United States carries up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Wire fraud carries up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A federal judge would determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The provided Justice Department release did not include court appearance dates, bond information or attorney information for Pick or Kent.
An indictment is an allegation. Pick and Kent are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
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