A defense contractor with ties to Congressman John Murtha (D-Pennsylvania) has been indicted in a massive kickback scheme.
Federal prosecutors have charged Richard Ianieri with taking $200,000 in kickbacks while he headed Coherent Systems International Corporation. Three others who worked for other defense contractors with ties to Murtha are scheduled for trial later this month in Florida. (More details)
The indictment of Ianieri represents the first charges leveled as a result of investigations into firms receiving defense earmarks -- many of which benefitted former aides and associates of Murtha.
Ken Boehm is chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, which has looked into a number of questionable Murtha earmarks.
"These are crummy little firms. Many of them are located in Murtha's district. That's part of the game," he explains. "But if they have anything substantial to do, they sub it out to some real company and keep a big chunk for themselves. And out of that chunk they pay the political contributions that go hand-in-hand with this kind of operation."
Murtha, Boehm contends, is like the center of a target that prosecutors will not reach until they penetrate the outer layers of corruption.
"I think what's going to happen is we're seeing the outer ring of the target fall first. That's the corrupt little defense contractors who couldn't survive but for this sort of political connection," he says. "The next ring is going to be the lobbyists who act as the brokers between the contractors and the congressman."
Boehm believes the lobbyists should be in position to help prosecutors eventually get to Murtha.