A Navy veteran has been sentenced to 36 months in federal prison after he defrauded the Navy out of more than $9 million through an approximate six-year bid-rigging and contract steering scheme that involved kickbacks and a Navy insider and co-conspirator.
U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr. sentenced Cory Taylor Wright, 49, of Columbus, Ga., to prison on Tuesday, ordered him to also pay $9.1 million in restitution—the specific amount of money Wright defrauded the Navy out of—after Wright pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in September 2025, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California.
Criminal fraud convictions against veterans are rare. Most recent DOJ convictions, including high-profile cases handled by the National Fraud Enforcement Division, do not target actual veterans.
Instead, they focus on corporate scams, identity thieves, or individuals practicing stolen valor.
How the Fraud Scheme Worked
The scheme began when, while nearing retirement in late 2016, Wright and Juan Carlos Aragon, a 48-year-old fellow Navy enlistee who held positions at the Navy’s Mobile Utilities Support Equipment division (MUSE), a service located at the naval base in Port Huenemene in Ventura County, Calif., created a company called C&C Power Solutions LLC (CCP) and funneled Navy contracts towards it.
Wright, who was also working for MUSE at the time—a service which engages with contractors to procure management, technical and logistic support for U.S. military power systems—paid Aragon thousands of dollars in kickback payments and other benefits, including payments to a sporting club Aragon operated, in exchange for Aragon directing Navy contracts to CCP.
Aragon caused a prime contractor and subcontractor to issue payments to CCP for products and services that CCP did not provide, and the pair engaged in bid-rigging to ensure CCP received more contracts when it became operational, according to prosecutors.
They said in one instance, in 2017, Wright and Aragon caused the submission of multiple fake contract bids for a $790,496 task order that contained estimated project costs that were significantly higher than the bid that CCP submitted.
In other instances, Wright generated fraudulent invoices misrepresenting CCP’s work for the Navy. He received Navy work without disclosing Aragon’s role and financial interest in CCP.
“This was not an isolated lapse in judgment or a fraud of limited duration,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “[Wright] repeatedly participated in deceptive conduct designed to undermine a competitive federal procurement process.”
The scheme lasted from December 2016 until August 2022.
On April 21, Aragon pleaded guilty to one count of bribery of a public official. Judge Blumenfeld sentenced him to 12 months and one day in prison. On Aug. 26, he was ordered to pay $97,960 in restitution.
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