Mr. Vanek is the owner and operator of American Craftsman (previously known as Al Vanek Contractor) located in Concord, California. During the years 1999 - 2001, Mr. Vanek paid approximately $60,000 to Columbio Reyes, the former Paint Shop Supervisor at the U.S. Department of Energy Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (DOE laboratory), University of California (UC), Paint Shop.  In return for this money, Reyes provided Vanek with information regarding the bid amounts to submit on contracts.  Vanek then used this information to insure that he won the paint contract on painting subcontracts at the DOE Laboratory.  This allowed Vanek to be awarded painting subcontracts.

The maximum statutory penalty for this offense is 2 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, 1 year supervised release, and a $100 penalty assessment.  The sentence will be controlled by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and will be imposed by the Court.

The defendant will be sentenced before U. S.  District Judge D. Lowell Jensen on December 17, 2004 at 9:00 a.m.

The prosecution is the result of a 3 year investigation by agents of the Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.