A former Montgomery County police officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to bribery and tax evasion charges as part of “the largest corruption case ever” pursued in Maryland in terms of the value of federal government contracts involved, U.S. Attorney for Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein announced Wednesday. More than $280 million in federal contracts were awarded under corrupt circumstances, prosecutors said, leading to charges against three persons. Michael B. Holiday, a 50-year-old former police officer from Silver Spring, pleaded guilty to securing more than $130 million in federal contracts for a security company that he owned by paying off a General Services Administration contracting official, according to court documents.
Holiday gave Dessie Ruth Nelson, 65, of Oakland, Calif., more than $100,000 in bribes for her assistance in awarding three multimillion-dollar contracts to Holiday International Security, Inc., prosecutors said. The Silver Spring company is now known as USProtect, Inc.
