Navy subcontractor pleads guilty in bribe case

Criminal Law

A Navy subcontractor pleaded guilty Friday in Rhode Island for his part in what federal prosecutors say was a kickback scheme that cost the Navy millions of dollars.

Russell Spencer's plea was part of an agreement with prosecutors in which he promised to cooperate with authorities as he has been since investigators approached him in June 2010.

Spencer, 56, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery in helping funnel money, through his businesses, from a Navy contractor to a civilian Navy employee who prosecutors say then bumped up funding to the contractor. Prosecutors say the scheme cost the Navy between $7 million and $20 million.

The case prompted an internal Navy investigation that resulted in military officials in Washington suspending the contracting authority of Newport's Naval Undersea Warfare Center. The Navy said a host of contracting problems at the facility enabled the scheme.

According to the government, Ralph M. Mariano of Arlington, Va., who worked at the warfare center, initiated the scheme by threatening to use his position to reduce funding for contracts held by Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow if company owner Anjan Dutta-Gupta didn't kick back money to Mariano.

Dutta-Gupta, of Roswell, Ga., has pleaded guilty to paying $8 million in bribes over more than a decade. Mariano has been charged, but not indicted. He has declined to comment on the allegations, and remains free on bond.

Related listings

  • NY top court rejects online defamation suit

    NY top court rejects online defamation suit

    Criminal Law 06/14/2011

    New York's top court has rejected a real estate broker's defamation claim against a rival business over anonymous comments posted on its website saying the broker mistreated agents, failed to pay bills and was racist and anti-Semitic. The Court of Ap...

  • Woman faces prison in Calif.-to-Ohio pot scheme

    Woman faces prison in Calif.-to-Ohio pot scheme

    Criminal Law 06/10/2011

    A California woman who initially claimed ignorance about the contents of multiple suitcases she was bringing to Ohio faces up to 10 years in prison Friday when she is sentenced in a $3 million marijuana shipping scheme.After her arrest in in June 201...

  • Ex-IMF leader pleads not guilty to sex assault

    Ex-IMF leader pleads not guilty to sex assault

    Criminal Law 06/06/2011

    The former International Monetary Fund head charged with trying to rape a Manhattan hotel maid formally said he was innocent of the charges Monday in his first court appearance in the case in two weeks.Dominique Strauss-Kahn pleaded not guilty in a s...

Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

Business News

St Peters, MO Professional License Attorney Attorney John Lynch has been the go-to choice for many professionals facing administrative sanction. >> read