U.S. Army contracting official pleads guilty to bribery charge

LOS ANGELES — A contracting representative for the U.S. Army has pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to a federal bribery charge involving fraudulent invoices submitted by South Korean contractors.

The U.S. attorney’s office says 50-year-old Marcus Flowers of Enterprise, Ala., pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit bribery.

U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson set sentencing for Sept. 11. The offense carries a maximum of five years in prison.

Flowers was responsible for approving invoices from contractors who install closedcircuit television systems at U.S. military installations in South Korea.

Prosecutors say he accepted bribes worth at least $170,000 and up to more than $500,000 in cash and goods in return for approving payments to contractors who did not install the systems or installed cheap inferior models instead of those required by contracts.