Kansas Engineer Gets 29 Months for $1.2M Kickback Scheme on Nuclear Weapons Projects

A Kansas man was sentenced to 29 months in prison for conspiring to steer fraudulently and award subcontracts by a major engineering firm for work on nuclear weapons manufacturing projects for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC).

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Michael Clinesmith, 70, of Overland Park, Kansas, solicited and received kickbacks and bribes from Richard Mueller, 65, of St. Charles, Missouri, in exchange for steering subcontracts from Clinesmith’s employer to Mueller’s company, known as subcontractor one.

 Clinesmith, a long-tenured employee of a major engineering firm working at the KCNSC, was responsible for designing and procuring gages specifically manufactured to measure components of nuclear weapons.

“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.”

Mueller paid Clinesmith over $1 million for surreptitiously performing some or all of the work and, in exchange, Clinesmith used his position and authority at company one to steer gage subcontracts to subcontractor one. 

Clinesmith told Mueller how much money he wanted to perform work under the gage subcontracts, and Subcontractor 1 included those amounts in its bids to company one. 

Clinesmith then approved those bids and told his employer, Company 1, that those bids were fair and reasonable without disclosing that, in exchange for the subcontracts, Mueller would secretly funnel money awarded to subcontractor one. In addition, Clinesmith provided Mueller with insider information, like company one’s budget for the gage subcontracts, that subcontractor one used to its advantage when bidding on the subcontracts. In total, Clinesmith accepted over $1.2 million in kickbacks over 15 years.

“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, Clinesmith was convicted 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 DOE-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Andrew Jaco and Shy Jackson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Townhall’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.

Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.

A Kansas man was sentenced to 29 months in prison for conspiring to steer fraudulently and award subcontracts by a major engineering firm for work on nuclear weapons manufacturing projects for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC).

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Michael Clinesmith, 70, of Overland Park, Kansas, solicited and received kickbacks and bribes from Richard Mueller, 65, of St. Charles, Missouri, in exchange for steering subcontracts from Clinesmith’s employer to Mueller’s company, known as subcontractor one.

 Clinesmith, a long-tenured employee of a major engineering firm working at the KCNSC, was responsible for designing and procuring gages specifically manufactured to measure components of nuclear weapons.

“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.”

Mueller paid Clinesmith over $1 million for surreptitiously performing some or all of the work and, in exchange, Clinesmith used his position and authority at company one to steer gage subcontracts to subcontractor one. 

Clinesmith told Mueller how much money he wanted to perform work under the gage subcontracts, and Subcontractor 1 included those amounts in its bids to company one. 

Clinesmith then approved those bids and told his employer, Company 1, that those bids were fair and reasonable without disclosing that, in exchange for the subcontracts, Mueller would secretly funnel money awarded to subcontractor one. In addition, Clinesmith provided Mueller with insider information, like company one’s budget for the gage subcontracts, that subcontractor one used to its advantage when bidding on the subcontracts. In total, Clinesmith accepted over $1.2 million in kickbacks over 15 years.

“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, Clinesmith was convicted 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 DOE-OIG investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Andrew Jaco and Shy Jackson of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Townhall’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.

Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.