Federal prosecutors say a Kansas engineer orchestrated a long-running kickback scheme tied to subcontracts for nuclear weapons gages, resulting in a 29-month prison sentence and more than $1.2 million paid in secret bribes over roughly 15 years.
A federal jury convicted Michael Clinesmith, 70, of Overland Park, Kansas, on multiple counts after evidence showed he steered gage subcontracts at a major engineering firm working on projects for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City National Security Campus. Sentencing capped a case that prosecutors say involved years of paid favors and insider bidding information that unfairly advantaged one subcontractor. Authorities tied those actions to work that supported the manufacture and verification of components used in the nation’s nuclear weapons supply chain.
Court records show Clinesmith solicited and accepted payments from Richard Mueller, 65, of St. Charles, Missouri, while using his position to direct business to Mueller’s company, referred to in filings as subcontractor one. Prosecutors say Mueller paid Clinesmith more than $1 million for work Clinesmith secretly arranged to be performed by subcontractor one, and that these payments were funneled over time to conceal the arrangement. In total, investigators allege Clinesmith accepted over $1.2 million in kickbacks spanning about 15 years.
According to the indictment and trial evidence, Clinesmith provided subcontractor one with confidential information, including company one’s internal budget figures for the gage work, which allowed the subcontractor to tailor bids and win awards. He then signed off on those bids as fair without disclosing the financial relationship with Mueller. That pattern, prosecutors argued, undermined competitive procurement and obscured the integrity of a process tied to national security work.
Federal officials emphasized the stakes in protecting procurement integrity when national defense systems are involved. “For more than a decade, the defendant exchanged his integrity and his employer’s trust for kickbacks from a dishonest contractor,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “To satisfy his greed, he corruptly steered contracts that were essential to ensuring the integrity of the nation’s nuclear weapons. Yesterday’s sentence reaffirms the Criminal Division’s commitment to rooting out fraud and corruption related to the procurement and manufacture of critically important products and services for the federal government and, ultimately, for United States taxpayers and to holding those accountable who commit these acts.”
The Department of Energy Office of Inspector General played a central role in investigating the matter and stressed its role in protecting contract integrity. “The Department of Energy Office of Inspector General (DOE-OIG) is committed to ensuring the integrity of Departmental contracts and programs,” said Department of Energy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Lewe Sessions. “We take allegations of fraud and kickbacks very seriously and will aggressively investigate these matters to ensure integrity throughout DOE programs. We appreciate the efforts of the DOJ in pursuing these allegations and will continue our collaboration with the DOJ to investigate those engaged in fraud or corruption in Department programs.”
In October 2025, a jury found Clinesmith guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud and honest services wire fraud. The conviction followed an investigation that documented how Clinesmith instructed Mueller on the amounts he expected to receive for performing portions of the gage work and how subcontractor one then embedded those amounts in its bids. Prosecutors say Clinesmith’s approvals and assurances to his employer that bids were fair concealed the secret financial arrangement.
The case names specific trial attorneys and investigative bodies: the DOE-OIG handled the probe, and Trial Attorneys Andrew Jaco and Shy Jackson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the matter. Sentencing to 29 months reflects the court’s judgment after conviction, while restitution, forfeiture, or other financial remedies may follow under federal procedures. Authorities framed the penalties as necessary to deter similar conduct where public trust and national security intersect.
The allegations and subsequent conviction underscore risks when procurement officials hold unchecked influence over vendor selection for sensitive defense-related manufacturing. Investigators and prosecutors described the scheme as a betrayal of employer trust and taxpayer dollars, noting the difficulty of spotting such schemes when insiders feed tailored information to favored bidders. The enforcement actions here aim to signal that misuse of procurement authority tied to national security will draw sustained scrutiny and criminal penalties.
