Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
August 24, 2007
Pg. 10
By Matt Kelley, USA Today
WASHINGTON — Federal authorities on Thursday charged an Army officer stationed in Baghdad with taking a $50,000 bribe to help a company win military contracts.
The FBI arrested Capt. Austin Key, 27, in New York on charges he solicited the bribe from a military contractor who became an informant.
Key is the fifth Army officer charged with bribery related to Iraq contracts this year. Two others have pleaded guilty to corruption charges.
The largest case is against Maj. John Cockerham, who was indicted Wednesday with his wife and sister on charges he took $9.6 million in bribes from contractors in Kuwait. Cockerham will plead not guilty, says his lawyer, Jimmy Parks Jr.
Key was a contracting officer for the Army in the Iraqi capital. In an affidavit filed in federal court, FBI agent James Price says Key sought a $125,000 bribe from an Army contractor in July. That day, the contractor talked to a Defense Criminal Investigative Service agent in Baghdad and agreed to become an informant against Key, Price wrote.
The informant wore audio- and video-recording equipment to two meetings with Key this month at Camp Liberty, a U.S. base in Baghdad, where they discussed a $50,000 bribe, the affidavit says. The informant gave Key $50,000 during the second meeting, on Aug. 15, and authorities nabbed him as he left with the cash stuffed in his pants pockets, Price says.
The bribery charge against Key carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Other soldiers accused of corruption in Iraq are:
*Col. Curtis Whiteford, Lt. Col. Debra Harrison and Lt. Col. Michael Wheeler, who were indicted in February on charges they participated in a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme at a contracting office in south-central Iraq. All three pleaded not guilty. In that same case, Lt. Col. Bruce Hopfengardner pleaded guilty last year. Hopfengardner was sentenced to 21 months in prison in June.
*Chief Warrant Officer Peleti "Pete" Peleti Jr., who pleaded guilty in February to taking a $50,000 bribe from a businessman seeking a food-service contract. Peleti has asked to withdraw his guilty plea; a hearing is scheduled for Oct. 5.
August 24, 2007
Pg. 10
By Matt Kelley, USA Today
WASHINGTON — Federal authorities on Thursday charged an Army officer stationed in Baghdad with taking a $50,000 bribe to help a company win military contracts.
The FBI arrested Capt. Austin Key, 27, in New York on charges he solicited the bribe from a military contractor who became an informant.
Key is the fifth Army officer charged with bribery related to Iraq contracts this year. Two others have pleaded guilty to corruption charges.
The largest case is against Maj. John Cockerham, who was indicted Wednesday with his wife and sister on charges he took $9.6 million in bribes from contractors in Kuwait. Cockerham will plead not guilty, says his lawyer, Jimmy Parks Jr.
Key was a contracting officer for the Army in the Iraqi capital. In an affidavit filed in federal court, FBI agent James Price says Key sought a $125,000 bribe from an Army contractor in July. That day, the contractor talked to a Defense Criminal Investigative Service agent in Baghdad and agreed to become an informant against Key, Price wrote.
The informant wore audio- and video-recording equipment to two meetings with Key this month at Camp Liberty, a U.S. base in Baghdad, where they discussed a $50,000 bribe, the affidavit says. The informant gave Key $50,000 during the second meeting, on Aug. 15, and authorities nabbed him as he left with the cash stuffed in his pants pockets, Price says.
The bribery charge against Key carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Other soldiers accused of corruption in Iraq are:
*Col. Curtis Whiteford, Lt. Col. Debra Harrison and Lt. Col. Michael Wheeler, who were indicted in February on charges they participated in a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme at a contracting office in south-central Iraq. All three pleaded not guilty. In that same case, Lt. Col. Bruce Hopfengardner pleaded guilty last year. Hopfengardner was sentenced to 21 months in prison in June.
*Chief Warrant Officer Peleti "Pete" Peleti Jr., who pleaded guilty in February to taking a $50,000 bribe from a businessman seeking a food-service contract. Peleti has asked to withdraw his guilty plea; a hearing is scheduled for Oct. 5.