SAN ANTONIO — In what he noted might not be legal, a federal judge on Friday ordered a very public shaming for two former officials of a now defunct contractor for their roles in overcharging taxpayers more than $6.4 million between 2002 and 2008.

Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery sentenced Donald Dean Brewer and his wife, Sherri Lynn Brewer, both 64, to a lifetime of probation and ordered them to publish an admission to their crimes in their hometown newspaper.

The former San Antonio residents retired to Clovis, a small town in southeastern New Mexico, and faced six to 10 years in federal prison.

“There has not been a full and forthcoming acceptance of responsibility,” Biery said. “There's been minimization. You are going to write a letter to be published in the Clovis newspaper. ...It better be a real strong confessional. It better say, 'I am a liar. I am a thief. I betrayed my friends. I betrayed the United States.'”

The judge added: “That's a real unusual sentence. It's probably an illegal sentence under the federal statute.”

The order is the latest in a string of actions by one of the most colorful, if not controversial, judges in Texas. For example, Biery banned organized prayer in 2011 at Medina Valley High School's graduation, which drew threats and a reversal on appeal.

Earlier this year, he issued a ruling laced with double entendres in rejecting strip clubs' attempt to block the city of San Antonio's law requiring dancers to cover more of their bodies.

Scholars criticized the ruling, as did an appellate judge behind the scenes.

Michael Ariens, a professor at St. Mary's School of Law, said Friday that he could not comment on the legality of the Friday sentence because he is not an expert on sentencing rules. But he called Biery's sentence a “bold approach.”

“In general, I think judges should be commended for alternate ways to punish individuals who have pleaded guilty or been convicted of crimes,” Ariens said. “Part of the reason for my opinion is that merely sentencing more people to prison has proven to be an ineffective approach to reducing crime. ...I applaud him for thinking of different ways to sentence those convicted of crimes.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Blankinship declined comment on the sentence.

The Brewers' lawyers, Terree Bowers and John Convery, said they would have to speak with their clients to see if they want to appeal.

“It's a quandary, because there are some very legitimate appellate issues,” said Bowers, Don Brewers' lawyer. “But (since) they got probation, do you want to risk that in an appeal?”

After a month of trial, a federal jury here on April 24 convicted the Brewers and James McKinney, 61, of one count each of conspiracy to defraud the United States, 12 counts each of wire fraud and four counts each of major fraud.

Biery sentenced the Brewers to five years of probation for each count, consecutive to one another. And he ordered restitution.

An accomplice, retired Air Force Col. Sidney Brandler pleaded guilty before trial to misprision of a felony — not reporting illegal conduct, and he testified against them. He and McKinney await sentencing.

The group formed Engineering & Deployment LLC more than a decade ago in San Antonio, and prosecutors said the group inserted it as an unnecessary subcontractor that padded expenses and tainted $33.5 million in Air Force contracts.

Prosecutors said Don Brewer was working for another contractor at the time that, in essence, was awarding the Air Force contracts for cabling work at military installations — creating a conflict of interest, at a minimum.

The judge said a big reason they avoided prison was because Don Brewer is partially paralyzed after an ultra-light plane crash in Cibolo in 2005. But Biery was unequivocal in his order that they admit to their conduct in a published letter.

gcontreras@express-news.net

