Man pleads guilty to scamming Air Force out of $37 million, channeling bribes to public official nicknamed “Godfather”

A former U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant pleaded guilty this week to federal crimes in a scheme that defrauded the Air Force of $37 million and involved channeling bribes to a public official nicknamed the “Godfather,” federal prosecutors said.

Texan Alan Hayward James, 51, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery, and conspiracy to rig bids in the District of Hawaii and elsewhere.

U.S. Department of Justice officials said in a statement Thursday that from at least 2016 until 2025, James, who was responsible for drafting IT contracts for U.S. Air Force installations across the Pacific, inflated the materials and labor costs in those contracts.

James then collaborated with co-conspirators to wire funds to various shell companies and pay false salaries and perks to individuals nicknamed “The Godfather” and “The Godmother.” In one instance in 2023, he paid for a co-conspirator’s all-expenses-paid, two-night stay at a luxury resort on the North Shore of Oahu.

“Through this bid-rigging scheme, the defendant not only stole from American taxpayers and harmed companies seeking to compete honestly for government contracts, he also ultimately harmed essential military services designed to keep our nation safe by diverting resources away from other services,” said U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson for the District of Hawaii.

According to federal prosecutors, James tracked the excess funds from government contracts in ledgers. Various amounts were sent to shell companies, and James directed those companies to make payments or provide “salaries” to himself, his own family members, and the family members of another co-conspirator—payments which he tracked using a series of code names.

James nicknamed himself “Al Capone” in the ledgers. His parents had the code names “Capone M” and “Capone D.”

Other code names in the ledger included the “Godfather” and the “Godmother.” Annual payments varied from approximately $10,000 to $200,000.

The recipients did not include work required by the contracts, despite receiving “salaries” or payments from co-conspirator companies related to those contracts.

James’ attorney had no comment. 

James agreed to pay restitution of at least $1,451,656.80 to the U.S. government.