posted on February 24, 2006 02:02:50 PM new
Friday, February 24, 2006 11:33 AM EST
The Associated Press
By MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — A defense contractor has agreed to plead guilty to his role in lavishing more than $1 million in gifts on a California congressman, two federal law enforcement officials said.
Mitchell Wade was expected to enter his guilty plea Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, the officials said. They spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because the charges against Wade and the plea agreement have not been made public.
Messages left for Wade's defense attorney, Reginald Brown, were not returned.
Wade is one of four coconspirators in the plea agreement and sentencing memorandum for former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who quit Congress last year after admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors and others in exchange for defense contracts and other favors. The coconspirators are not named in court papers, but have been identified elsewhere.
Wade is the former president of MZM Inc., a Washington firm that does classified intelligence work for the military. MZM's government contracts soared from less than $1 million a year to tens of millions of dollars annually in recent years.
Among Wade's gifts to Cunningham was the purchase of the congressman's California home for a price inflated by $700,000. Cunningham, 64, used the money to move into a $2.55 million, seven-bath mansion in the exclusive San Diego County community of Rancho Santa Fe.
A bribe of a $140,000 in the form of a 42-foot yacht, the Duke-Stir, brought Wade an offer of $16 million in contracts, according to Cunningham's sentencing memorandum, which calls for a 10-year prison term.
Wade bought Cunningham $190,000 in antiques over two years from one store alone, records show. Cunningham used the antiques "to feather his nest in San Diego," prosecutors said.
The former "Top Gun" flight instructor and Vietnam War flying ace is scheduled to be sentenced March 3 in U.S. District Court in San Diego.
Besides Wade, the three other coconspirators are: Brent Wilkes, founder of San Diego-based ADCS Inc.; New York businessman Thomas Kontogiannis; and John T. Michael, Kontogiannis' nephew.
I SAY PUT ALL THESE BASTARDS IN JAIL NO MATTER WHAT PARTY THEY BELONG TO. I'M SAYING A HARD TIME JAIL NOT SOME PRISSY FARM JAIL.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE TIRED OF THE BEST LAWS AND GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY.
posted on March 3, 2006 06:46:33 PM new
" I SAY PUT ALL THESE BASTARDS IN JAIL NO MATTER WHAT PARTY THEY BELONG TO. I'M SAYING A HARD TIME JAIL NOT SOME PRISSY FARM JAIL"
Well Big-I think we have finally agreed on something.
