A former manager at Vermeer Corporation was sentenced for his role in bid-fixing during the construction of the organization’s new Eco Center following the July 2018 tornado.

Roger Paul Bradford, 57, pled guilty in October to fraud and was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison late last week. Several Vermeer facilities were destroyed in the EF3 tornado that hit its campus on July 19th, 2018, including Vermeer’s Eco Center.

According to court records, Bradford was hired in January 2019 as Vermeer’s director of construction, and was in charge of reconstruction of the center. Vermeer confirms they fired Bradford in October 2019. According to prosecutors, Bradford sent confidential project information and recommended that the project’s general contractor hire Viorel Draghia, Virginia-based Draghia Painting & Contracting, despite not being the low bidder.

Draghia was paying kickbacks to Bradford in exchange for project details and ultimately the support to win the bids. Vermeer removed him from the project and Bradford was let go due to unrelated allegations of harassment, according to the Des Moines Register.

“We are pleased with the administration of justice and we thank all involved for their support of this investigation and prosecution, including our internal team members, the FBI, and the United States Attorney’s Office,” Liz Sporrer, Director of Communications for Vermeer, said in a statement.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger estimated the company lost $150,000 due to the scheme. Goodgame said the bids in question were thousands of dollars higher than those of local competitors, and Draghia would subcontract the work back to Iowa companies. Charges related to obstruction of justice were also dropped as part of a plea agreement.