Soldier accused of taking bribe |
|
|
|
Published
:
Fri, 26 Jan 2007 19:33
|
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (AFX) - A soldier is accused of taking a $50,000 bribe to steer a food service contract to a Kuwaiti company.Army Chief Warrant Officer Peleti 'Pete' Peleti Jr., 39, of Hawaii, is also accused of attempting to smuggle about $40,000 in undeclared cash into the United States on a December 2005 flight from Kuwait City to Dover, Del, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.Prosecutors say Peleti took the bribe while at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, where he served as the Army's theater food service adviser for Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is accused of steering a contract for paper products and plastic flatware away from a government contractor.A telephone call to a listing for Peleti in Kapolei, Hawaii, went unanswered Thursday night.He is to be arraigned Feb. 9 in federal court in Rock Island. He was charged in Illinois because he was serving in the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, overseen by an office at Rock Island Arsenal.Peleti faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 if found guilty of accepting the bribe. He faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of cash smuggling.Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
|
|
|
Print this Story
Oilman seeks to resolve Grenada lawsuit 