Photo by Vincent Montibus. (CC)

Every industry has their big annual trade show. Right now in Las Vegas (where else?), the largest US trade show for the firearms industry is going on. Everyone is excited to see what new products are coming out. If you are involved in any capacity in the industry, you are at this show right now. Which is exactly why the FBI decided to round up 22 executives from various companies on Tuesday for agreeing to pay bribes to a fictional African government to outfit its presidential security detail. Defense Tech/Military.com posted a good analysis of those who were nabbed and surprise, South Florida was representing in numbers.

One of the alleged bribers is Patrick Caldwell (with alleged co-​​conspirator Stephen Giordanella), who was only 10 days ago named named CEO of Sunrise, Fla.-based Protective Products, a big time competitor to Point Blank for body armor contracts. PPA was the original winner of the Marine Corps MTV contract.

Caldwell’s indictment alleges he:

On or about May 14, 2009, at the Mandarin Oriental meeting in Miami, CALDWELL and GIORDANELLA agreed to proceed with the Country A deal, after being told that in order’ to win the Country A business, Company A would need to add a 20% “commission” to the invoices it sent to VA-​​J in connection with the Phase One and Phase Two deals, half of which would be paid to Country A’s Minister of Defense and half of which would be kicked back in the form of a commission split between Individual I and VA-​​I as a fee for their corrupt services. CALDWELL and GIORDANELLA further agreed to proceed with the Phase One deal knowing that the purpose of the Phase One deal was to show Country A’s Minister of Defense that the Minister of Defense would personally receive a 10% “commission” on the deal.

Whoa…And the rest of the alleged conspirators are accused of doing almost exactly the same thing.

It’s not just locals that were caught either. Some very connected and some would say, people with backgrounds that you wouldn’t expect. From Politico:

Among those arrested, the Justice Department said, a former top Secret Service official who ran the Vice President’s protective detail. The former Secret Service official, R. Patrick Caldwell, was named CEO of a company called Protective Products of America last July. (The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month. Chairman of PPA’s board is former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ret. Gen. Henry “Hugh” Shelton.)

All of the defendants except Giordanella were arrested yesterday by FBI agents in Las Vegas, the Justice Department said. Giordanella was arrested by the FBI in Miami.

Of the 22 that were arrested involved in this sting operation, 7 where from Florida. Out of those 4 were from South Florida (Dade, Broward, Palm Beach). Here is the information on those.

• Andrew Bigelow, 40, the managing partner and director of government programs for a Sarasota, Fla., company that sells machine guns, grenade launchers and other small arms and accessories;
• R. Patrick Caldwell, 61, and Stephen Gerard Giordanella, 50, the current and former chief executive officers of a Sunrise, Fla., company that designs and manufactures concealable and tactical body armor;
• Haim Geri, 50, the president of a North Miami Beach, Fla., company that serves as a sales agent for companies in the law enforcement and military products industries;
• Saul Mishkin, 38, the owner and chief executive officer of an Aventura, Fla., company that sells law enforcement and military equipment;
• Jonathan M. Spiller, 58, the owner and president of a Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., company that markets and sells law enforcement and military equipment;
• John Benson Wier III, 46, the president of a St. Petersburg, Fla., company that sells tactical and ballistic equipment.

Keep up the good work South Florida scum!