United States v. Helder C. Simas

INTRODUCTION

Helder C. Simas was charged with conspiracy to accept bribes in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Count 1), accepting a bribe in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666 (Count 2), and mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 (Counts 3 through 6). A jury found Simas guilty on Counts 2 through 6. Simas appeals his convictions. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

BACKGROUND FACTS

Helder C. Simas was a manager of the Power and Mechanical Division for the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (“BART”). Si-mas’ responsibilities included the initiation of contracts for services and goods needed by his division.

BART used different procedures to award contracts based on the value of the services or goods needed. For contracts exceeding $10,000, BART used a competitive bidding procedure. For contracts under $10,000, Simas had discretion to use an informal bid process or dispense with bids if necessary to complete a particular task. Simas also could use “open purchase orders” by which an indefinite amount of services or goods could be purchased from a particular vendor. If the service or good did not exceed $200, Simas could buy it without prior approval by using a…