SACRAMENTO  -  John Brewer, 48, of San Francisco, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. to 15 months in prison for bid rigging, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, Brewer and his co-defendant, Brent Vinch, were the owners of, and senior executives for, a company called Expert Network Consultants (ENC), which submitted bids to the State of California for various government contracts.

Brewer admitted that from 2008 through early 2012, he conspired with co-defendants Vinch and Loraine Dixon, among others, to rig the state’s competitive bidding process by creating inflated bids for submission by co-conspirators to state contracting agencies in an effort to ensure that Expert Network Consultants received the contracts.

Brewer solicited bids from individuals and companies that had no intention or ability to perform the work called for in the contracts, and Brewer directed Vinch to create and submit noncompetitive bids. In total, ENC won more than 40 state contracts as a result of the bid-rigging conspiracy from multiple state agencies, including the Employment Development Department, Department of Justice, Department of Motor Vehicles, and Department of Insurance. The value of those contracts exceeded $3 million.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Yelovich is prosecuting the case. The United States is grateful for the assistance of the California Attorney General’s Office in conducting the initial investigation into this matter and referring it to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Co-defendant Vinch pleaded guilty to bid rigging on December 14, 2017, and is awaiting sentencing. Charges are pending against Dixon. The charges against her are allegations, and she is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.