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Gold9472
02-27-2009, 08:56 AM
CIA officer gets jail time for fraud

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20090227_CIA_officer_gets_jail_time_for_fraud.html

By Matthew Barakat
2/27/2009

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The highest-ranking CIA officer ever convicted of a federal felony was sentenced to more than three years in prison yesterday as part of a bribery and fraud investigation that previously resulted in the conviction of a California congressman.

Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who as executive director held the CIA's No. 3 rank from 2004 to 2006, had asked the judge to spare him jail time, citing his covert work on behalf of the country over two decades at the CIA, including a supervisory stint in Iraq after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

But U.S. District Judge James Cacheris sentenced him to the 37 months that prosecutors had sought for a scheme they said revealed Foggo as a crass opportunist who wrapped himself in a cloak of patriotism.

Prosecutor Jason Forge said Foggo took advantage of the nation's and the CIA's sense of urgency after 9/11.

"It's no coincidence that Mr. Foggo's fraud took place entirely in the aftermath of Sept. 11," Forge said. "One man's crisis is another man's opportunity, and Mr. Foggo proved himself to be a very capable opportunist."

Foggo, of Vienna, Va., plead guilty to a single count of fraud last year as part of a plea bargain in which prosecutors dropped 27 other counts.

Prosecutors say the fraud encompassed a years-long scheme in which Foggo's old friend, contractor Brent Wilkes, showered Foggo with tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts and luxury vacations in exchange for steering multimillion-dollar contracts in Wilkes' direction.

They also say the fraud included Foggo's efforts to get his mistress hired by the CIA at a six-figure salary for a job for which she was unqualified.

Wilkes, Foggo's friend, was convicted and sentenced last year to 12 years in prison. Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R., Calif.), who admitted taking bribes from Wilkes, was sentenced to more than eight years.