Bruce Thomas, age 53, of Germantown, Maryland, pleaded guilty to paying gratuities to a public official in exchange for official acts. Thomas is the owner and operator of Pinnacle Orthopedic Services, Inc., also located in Germantown. According to his plea agreement, from at least 2012 to 2019, Pinnacle provided prosthetics and orthotics materials to the Prosthetics and Orthotics Department at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the largest joint military medical center in the United States, in return for payments from the government. From about 2009 until May 2019, David Laufer was a public official and civilian employee of the Department of Defense, working as the Chief of the Prosthetics and Orthotics Department at Walter Reed. As such, Laufer represented Walter Reed in ordering and purchasing prosthetics and orthotics materials, including purchases made from Thomas and Pinnacle. Thomas admitted that between 2012 and 2016, he provided Laufer with things of value, including cash gratuities on a regular basis, totaling at least $20,000; food, drinks, and other financial benefits; airline travel; lodging benefits; and entertainment tickets. In exchange, Laufer undertook official acts in connection with the gratuities including sending multiple purchase requests obligating at least $14.75 million to Pinnacle for prosthetics and orthotics materials and personally ordering and causing to be ordered prosthetics and orthotics material from Pinnacle.
