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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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September 29th,
2008 - Ex-CIA Executive Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud News article by the Associated
Press |
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Ex-CIA Executive
Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud By Matthew Barakat Associated Press September 29, 2008 Alexandria, Va. - A former
high-ranking CIA official pleaded guilty Monday to abusing his influence
within the agency to direct lucrative contracts toward an old friend who
showered him with tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts. Kyle "Dusty" Foggo,
53, of Vienna, Va., struck a deal in U.S. District Court, pleading guilty to
a single count of wire fraud for "depriving the United States and its
citizens of their right to his honest services." As part of the plea,
prosecutors dropped 27 other counts against him and agreed to seek a prison
term no longer than three years and a month. Foggo was the agency's
third-highest ranking officer from 2004 to 2006 and responsible for its daily
operations. He will be sentenced on Jan. 8 and faces up to 20 years in
prison. However, it is far more likely that U.S. District Judge James
Cacheris will impose a sentence more closely in line with the three-year term
recommended by prosecutors. Foggo was not charged with
taking bribes, but prosecutors said in court papers that he received up to
$70,000 worth of gifts from his friend Brent Wilkes, a defense contractor.
The gifts included expensive dinners at gourmet steakhouses and free
vacations for Foggo and his family in Scotland and Hawaii. He and his lawyer declined
comment after the hearing. The case against Foggo
resulted from an investigation of former congressman Randy "Duke"
Cunningham, R-Calif., who admitted taking bribes from Wilkes. Cunningham
pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than eight years in prison. Wilkes
was convicted and sentenced to 12 years. Prosecutors said Foggo had a
standing offer of high-paying employment with Wilkes if he ever left the CIA.
In return, prosecutors said Foggo helped Wilkes' company obtain multiple
contracts from the CIA and conceal the contractor's connections to the deal. According to court papers,
one contract was for the delivery of bottled water overseas where Foggo was a
supervisor. The contract amount was not disclosed, but prosecutors said the
price reflected a 60 percent markup. Among the charges dropped
were allegations that Foggo pulled strings to get his mistress hired by the
CIA and stationed close to him. Foggo was subdued in court
Monday when he entered his guilty plea and answered questions from the judge
acknowledging that he understood the consequences. He remains free on bond
pending his sentencing. The plea comes three weeks
after prosecutors complained that Foggo was threatening to expose the cover
of practically every agent with whom he had contact as part of his defense. CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield
said the agency cooperated with investigators but declined to comment on
specifics of the case. Copyright © 2008 The
Associated Press. External link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hSoMDsA5PakZOd1o1yx655Egw9ngD93GHJNG0 Ex-C.I.A. Official Admits Corruption By David Johnston New York Times September 29, 2008 Washington - Kyle D. Foggo,
a former high-ranking official at the Central Intelligence Agency, pleaded
guilty Monday to one felony corruption count, admitting that he had directed
C.I.A. contracts to companies operated by a longtime friend. Mr. Foggo’s plea, entered in
the Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., was to a count of theft of his
honest services, a charge centering mainly on his relationship with that
friend, Brent R. Wilkes, a San Diego military contractor. In a statement of facts
accompanying the plea, Mr. Foggo admitted that he had concealed the
relationship from colleagues. From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Foggo
was the C.I.A.’s executive director, its third-ranking official. That post
made him the agency’s chief administrative officer, responsible for its
contracts with outside vendors. He and Mr. Wilkes had been
friends in California since childhood - in fact, each had named a child after
the other - and his indictment in February 2007 charged that Mr. Foggo had
concealed that he had a standing offer of a high-paying job at one of Mr.
Wilkes’s companies. In the statement of facts
made public Monday, Mr. Foggo admitted hiding their friendship even as he
steered contracts to Mr. Wilkes “through direct and indirect means.” Mark J. MacDougall, a lawyer
for Mr. Foggo, said after the plea was announced, “Mr. Foggo made the
difficult decision to bring this case to a close in the best interests of his
family and to get on with the rest of his life.” Sentencing is set for Jan. 8
before Judge James C. Cacheris. Mr. Foggo, initially charged with 28 felony
counts, had been scheduled to go to trial on Nov. 3. By pleading guilty to
one count, he still faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine
of $250,000. But in return for his plea, prosecutors agreed to seek
considerably lesser punishment. His friend Mr. Wilkes built
a lucrative business in the 1990s with government contracts he won through
connections to powerful members of the House Appropriations Committee. In
February, Mr. Wilkes was sentenced to 12 years in prison for bribing
Representative Randy Cunningham, Republican of California, who had previously
pleaded guilty to corruption charges and is serving an eight-year sentence. Mr. Foggo was best known for
a role he played before rising to No. 3 at the C.I.A. A freewheeling covert
logistics officer, he was credited at the agency with organizing the secret
supply pipelines that fanned out from Europe at the onset of war to remote
regions of Afghanistan and Iraq, at times air-shipping saddles for
horseback-riding C.I.A. officers. From the relative obscurity
of the logistics job, he was chosen to be executive director in November 2004
by Porter J. Goss, who had succeeded George J. Tenet as director of central
intelligence. Mr. Foggo resigned in May 2006. External link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/washington/30inquire.html |