Rogue jurors, indictments, plea deals etc.. – the news

Employee of Federal Contractor Charged with Disclosing National Defense Information to National News Reporter
August 27, 2010 – WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia has returned an indictment charging Stephen Jin-Woo Kim with unlawfully disclosing national defense information to a reporter for a national news organization and making false statements to the FBI.

The indictment, which was unsealed today, was announced by David S. Kris, Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division; Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; and Shawn Henry, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office.

Kim, age 43, was an employee of a federal contractor who was on detail to the State Department at the time of the alleged disclosure. Kim made his initial appearance today in court in the District of Columbia. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison for the unlawful disclosure of national defense information and up to five years in prison for the making of false statements.

According to the indictment, in June 2009, Kim knowingly and willfully disclosed information contained in an intelligence report classified Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) to a reporter for a national news organization who was not entitled to receive it. The classified information related to the national defense, specifically, intelligence sources and methods and intelligence concerning the military capabilities and preparedness of a particular foreign nation. (Click HERE for article)

The Brooks trial: When jurors go rogue
Harnesslink -26-Aug-2010 – Andrew Cohen – It is by far the least surprising legal development of the year that there would be trouble inside the jury room in the corporate fraud trial of David H. Brooks, the titular head of the Perfect World Enterprises and Bulletproof Enterprises harness racing empire.

The white-collar case with the red-light tinge has been a circus, a freak show, and a mess since its inception. And I’m quite sure I’m not the only one who sees grand irony in the fact that Brooks’ jury might get hung up because one or more of its members may be cheating on the oath of service.

Brooks’ zany trial (involving two defendants, actually, allegations of hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud, and decades in prison as a potential sentence) was far too long. And long trials typically beget long deliberations. But it’s been three weeks or so and jurors should have been back with a verdict by now. Last week, the federal judge/zookeeper who presides over U.S. v. Brooks received a note from a juror who wrote that some colleague “sit there and read testimony that doesn’t relate to the charges we are discussing.” U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert gently reminded the panel that they all needed to stay focused upon deliberations.

Now comes this. A new note from a juror asking to be dismissed:”I would like to be excused from the jury because there are people on the jury who at times do not add any input. . . . I feel that they are prolonging the case because they don’t want to go back to work.” You don’t hear about that type of juror misconduct every day in a federal criminal case. Perhaps the free lunches served to the panel at the Central Islip courthouse are particularly nutritious. Perhaps jurors just want to go over one more time in the transcripts the salacious details about Brooks’ expenses-the porn, the hookers, the plane-rides to Las Vegas. There are people on the jury tells me there is more than one rogue juror. That’s bad news all around. (Click HERE for article)

Agencies are getting too attached to incumbent contractors, watchdog finds
Robert Brodsky - August 26, 2010 – Federal agencies are failing to maximize opportunities to make contracts competitive, often because of poor management or because officials have grown comfortable with incumbent contractors, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

The watchdog reviewed trends in noncompetitive contracts during the past several years and discovered a number of questionable business practices by contracting officials and program managers. GAO found 44 percent of all federal contracts in fiscal 2009 either were not placed up for competition or attracted only one bid.

The report (GAO-10-833), which the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee requested, highlighted contracts that appeared to be written with such narrowly defined requirements that only one company could reasonably compete. In other instances, program offices pressed for follow-on contracts to be awarded without competition to the existing company because it would be more expeditious since the offices already had formed a relationship with the firm. (Click HERE for Article)

Young arms dealer gets into more trouble
Robert Brodsky - August 24, 2010 – A Miami arms dealer who has admitted to selling faulty, decades-old Chinese munitions to Afghan security forces is back in trouble with the law.

Efraim Diveroli, who was 22 years old when his company, AEY Inc., secured a nearly $300 million Defense Department contract to provide ammunition to Afghanistan’s army and police force, was arrested on Aug. 20 in Brevard County, Fla.

He was charged with possession of firearms as a convicted felon and possession of firearms while under indictment for a felony offense. Diveroli, who will likely face additional criminal charges, was held without bond. The New York Times first reported Diveroli’s arrest on Monday.

Diveroli pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to make fraudulent statements to the U.S. government in relation to the Afghan contract. He faces five years in prison when he is sentenced on Nov. 8. Under the terms of his plea deal, he is forbidden from selling or handling firearms. (Click HERE for article)

Former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Charged with Bribery and Related Crimes in Afghanistan Fuel Theft Scheme
August 24, 2010 – WASHINGTON – A former U.S. Army staff sergeant was charged today with bribery, theft of government property and conspiracy in connection with a fuel theft scheme to solicit approximately $400,000 in bribes from a government contractor in Afghanistan, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia.

Stevan Nathan Ringo, 26, of Marrero, La., was charged today in a three-count indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia, with one count of bribery as a public official, one count of theft of government property, and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and theft of government property. Ringo was originally arrested on June 25, 2010, based on a criminal complaint charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government property.

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