Halliburton (HAL) and its former subsidiary KBR Inc. (KBR) settled federal charges Wednesday totaling $579 million, with KBR paying the bulk of those fines after pleading guilty to criminal charges for bribing Nigerian government officials for over a decade.

The criminal and civil settlements, which were both announced by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, end a long-running investigation into an elaborate bribery scheme which helped KBR executives obtain more than $6 billion worth of construction contracts in Nigeria.

KBR's subsidiary Kellog Brown & Root LLC pleaded guilty in a Houston federal court to criminal charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and agreed to pay a $402 million fine. Halliburton, meanwhile, said Wednesday it had received a non-prosecution agreement from the DOJ in which the DOJ agreed not to bring criminal charges in exchange for cooperation with the ongoing investigation.

"As a result of the indemnity and the KBR subsidiary's criminal plea, Halliburton has agreed to pay in eight installments over the next two years $382 million of $402 million in criminal fines payable by KBR as part of KBR's resolution of the DOJ investigation, with KBR consenting to pay the remaining $20 million," Halliburton said in a statement.

In a related civil complaint by the SEC, Halliburton and KBR jointly agreed to pay $177 million in disgorgement. The SEC had charged KBR with violating the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It also charged Halliburton and KBR with record-keeping and internal control violations.

"As part of the resolution of the SEC investigation, Halliburton will retain an independent consultant to perform a 60-day initial and, approximately one year later, a 30-day follow-up review and evaluation of Halliburton's anti-bribery and foreign agent internal controls and record-keeping policies, and to adopt any necessary improvements," the company said.

Halliburton separated itself from KBR in 2007. An attorney for KBR could not be reached for comment.

"This bribery scheme involved both senior foreign government officials and KBR corporate executives who took actions to insulate themselves from the reach of U.S. law enforcement," said Rita M. Glavin, the acting assistant attorney general of the criminal division of the DOJ. "This successful prosecution of KBR and its agreement to pay a more-than-$400 million fine, demonstrates that no one is above the law, and that the department is determined to seek penalties that commensurate with, and will deter, this kind of serious criminal misconduct."

The DOJ and SEC alleged that Albert "Jack" Stanley, KBR's former chief executive, met with high-ranking Nigerian officials at least four times to arrange bribe payments in return for construction contracts.

Stanley pleaded guilty to criminal charges of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in September and also reached a settlement with the SEC in a civil complaint. His sentencing is scheduled for May 6.

According to the DOJ, KBR was part of a four-company joint venture that received the contracts. As part of its plea, KBR admitted to conspiring with those partners to promise and pay bribes. They also admitted to paying tens of millions of dollars in consulting fees to two agents for use in bribing government officials.

As part of its criminal plea deal, KBR agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor for a three-year period and continue to cooperate with the DOJ's continuing investigation of this matter.

-By Sarah N. Lynch, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6634; sarah.lynch@dowjones.com

Dow Jones Reporter Kerry E. Grace contributed to this report.