State v. Armstrong, No. 09-01-00012 (Grand Jury No. 563-09-26-S (N.J. Super. Ct. Jan. 14. 2009)
Frederick J. Armstrong, a construction management specialist in the Capital Planning & Construction Unit of the Department of Corrections (DOC) assisted Kerth and three companies owned by him in submitting rigged bids to the DOC and used his influence over contracting procedures to steer contracts awarded by the department to Independent Alarm. The state’s investigation revealed that between April 1999 and December 2004, Kerth and his companies, with Armstrong’s assistance, rigged nine DOC contracts with contract prices that, in the aggregate, exceeded $230,000. Armstrong pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to commit the crimes of official misconduct, unlawful restraint of trade, theft by deception, making false representations for government contracts, and misconduct by a corporate official. Judge he was sentenced to three years in state prison and required to forfeit his job with the DOC and be permanently excluded from public employment in New Jersey. Kerth admitted that, at Armstrong’s request, he solicited other contractors to submit higher “cover” bids so Independent Alarm would win a 2003 contract with the Department of Corrections for $39,600 to install closed-circuit television components at Mid-State Correctional Facility. Under state law, Independent had to be the lowest qualified bidder among at least three independent bids to win the contract. Kerth further admitted that Automatic Alarm submitted a cover bid so that Independent Alarm would win a 2002 contract for $5,030 to install upgraded alarm systems in two schools in Haddon Township
