Baltimore, Maryland –After a seven-day trial, a federal jury returned guilty verdicts yesterday convicting Wayne I. Kacher, Jr., age 51, of Harford County, Maryland, on federal charges of conspiring to commit honest services wire fraud and bribery, honest services wire fraud, and bribery involving federal funds.
The guilty verdict was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service – Mid-Atlantic Field Office.
As detailed in trial testimony, the Maryland Broadband Cooperative, Incorporated (“MdBC”) was a not-for-profit corporation whose purpose was to work with internet service providers to offer broadband internet service to under-served and un-served areas in Maryland. For a fee, public and private entities could join the cooperative and gain access to the broadband infrastructure that MdBC installed. MdBC’s office was located in Salisbury, Maryland. William Patrick Mitchell worked as the President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of MdBC.
Defendant Wayne Kacher (“Kacher”) was the president and owner of Bel Air Underground, Inc. (“BAU”), a company that is principally located in Baltimore County, Maryland. BAU frequently acted as a subcontractor on projects for MdBC. Kacher was also the president and owner of Pro Comm Engineering and Locating Services, LLC (“Pro Comm”), which was principally located in Baltimore, County Maryland. Pro Comm also acted as a subcontractor on projects for MdBC.