JURIST - Paper Chase: Ex-CIA official sentenced to 37 months in defense contract corruption case

[JURIST] The US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] on Thursday sentenced former CIA executive director Kyle Foggo [JURIST news archive] to 37 months in prison for wire fraud related to charges that he accepted bribes in return for granting federal defense contracts. Foggo was originally indicted [text, PDF; JURIST report] in February 2007 on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with allegations that his friend and defense contractor Brent Wilkes [Newsweek profile] gave him gifts and promised him a job in return for the granting of CIA defense contracts. Prosecutors later amended the indictment [PDF text] to include counts of conflict of interest and additional counts of fraud, but Foggo negotiated a plea agreement [JURIST report] last September, limiting the trial to one count of wire fraud [18 USC s. 1343 text]. US District Judge James Cacheris issued the maximum sentence recommended by prosecutors, rejecting the defense team's request for probation.

In November 2007, Wilkes was convicted [JURIST report] of 13 felonies, including money laundering, fraud, and conspiracy, in connection with bribes he paid to former congressman Randy Cunningham [official profile; JURIST news archive]. Both Wilkes and Foggo came under investigation when Cunningham pleaded guilty in 2005 [JURIST report] to taking $2.4 million in bribes in return for federal contracts. Foggo was the third highest-ranking CIA officer at the time of the misconduct.

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