Las Vegas, Nevada - Billy Joe West, 57, of Las Vegas, made his initial appearance Monday on a federal charge alleging that he misused his position as an employee at a federally contracted drug testing facility to solicit and accept bribes from individuals on federal probation, in exchange for concealing their positive and missed drug tests, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Aaron C. Rouse of the FBI.

“Employees of federal contractors must put the public interest over their own self interests,” said U.S. Attorney Trutanich. “Our law enforcement partners and our office will continue to investigate violations of the public trust.”

“Obstructing justice by accepting bribes in exchange for false reporting is unacceptable,” said Special Agent in Charge Rouse. “The FBI will use every resource available to assist our law enforcement partners in holding individuals accountable for their actions.”

According to the complaint, West was an employee at WestCare Nevada, Inc., a federal contractor that conducted, among other services, court-ordered urinalysis drug testing of supervisees (on federal probation and supervised release). West’s responsibilities included administering that drug testing.

The complaint alleges that West devised a scheme to solicit and accept payments from supervisees in exchange for reporting a false negative drug test to the U.S. Probation Office. During January and February 2020, in exchange for cash bribes, West helped an individual falsify drug testing results on at least three occasions. On the first two occasions, West received $400 in exchange for reporting a negative drug test even though the individual was not tested.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Albregts on April 13, 2020.

If convicted, West faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the honest services wire fraud charge. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only. If convicted of any offense, the sentencing of a defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct for purposes of establishing probable cause, not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. 

This case was the product of an investigation by the FBI.