KENTUCKY
A federal judge today sentenced an Army Sergeant to two years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with contracts while serving in Afghanistan, according to officials.
U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell also ordered Ramiro Pena Jr., 43, to forfeit $100,000, a Harley Davidson motorcycle and a Rolex watch.
Ramiro, of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, plead guilty to a one-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit bribery.
According to the evidence, here is what happened:
- From January 2008 through September 2009, Pena worked as a U.S. Army sergeant first class at the Humanitarian Assistance Yard at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.
- In connection with his guilty plea, Pena admitted that he and his supervisor, Army Master Sgt. Jimmy W. Dennis, were responsible for contracting with local vendors to purchase supplies to support humanitarian relief in Afghanistan, and they awarded approximately 217 such contracts totaling roughly $30 million.
- In return, Pena and Dennis received money and jewelry from some of the vendors.
- Pena admitted that he received from the vendors, through Dennis, a Rolex watch and $100,000 in total bribe payments.
- In addition, Pena sent approximately $22,000 of the cash to his family in Kentucky, spread among numerous greeting cards to avoid drawing attention to the thickness of any particular envelope.
- Pena also used the bribe money to pay his family’s personal expenses both in Afghanistan and in the United States to purchase a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
- Dennis also plead guilty in Tennessee to conspiracy to launder bribe payments and was sentenced to three years and five months in prison and ordered to forfeit $115,000.