Wilkes, CIA official arraigned on new charges

By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer | Monday, May 14, 2007 11:25 PM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO -- Former Poway defense contractor Brent Wilkes and the CIA's former No. 3 official were arraigned in federal court Monday on multiple felony counts that include conspiracy, fraud, bribery of a public official and money laundering.

Both men pleaded not guilty to the latest charges, as they did to original charges filed against them in February. The first indictment charged the pair with 11 counts of the same charges in connection with a $1.7 million water-supply contract Kyle "Dusty" Foggo allegedly helped win for one of Wilkes' companies while he was working as a logistics coordinator at a CIA supply hub overseas.

"The new indictment outlines a second scheme in which Foggo is suspected of providing Wilkes with "sensitive, internal information related to our national security," including classified information, to help him prepare bids for providing undercover flights for the CIA.

The charges stemmed from the same investigation that ended up sending former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham to prison for more than eight years, after he pleaded guilty in late 2005 to taking more than $2.4 million in bribes some of them allegedly from Wilkes.

Under a separate February indictment, Wilkes was also charged on multiple felony counts for his alleged role in the Cunningham corruption scheme to steer tens of millions in government contracts to two defense contractors. Prosecutors allege that Wilkes bribed Cunningham with lavish vacations, money and evenings with prostitutes to help him to secure those contracts.

On Monday, federal Judge Larry Alan Burns set the trial dates for both men. The case, in which Wilkes is charged in connection with the Cunningham scandal, is scheduled to start on Sept. 18 and is expected to take three weeks to complete.

The Wilkes-Foggo case is slated to begin on Oct. 23.

Also on Monday, Burns addressed several motions filed by defense lawyers in the two cases.

Wilkes' attorney, Mark Geragos, recently asked the court to open a full-scale investigation into who leaked secret grand jury information to news media outlets.

Days before the grand jury issued indictments against Foggo, Wilkes, and another alleged co-conspirator in the Cunningham case, newspapers ran stories citing anonymous sources who said that indictments were close. Wilkes has alleged "outrageous" conduct on the part of the government and has asked that the entire case against his client be dismissed.

In responding to the motion, Burns said that he would not order the investigation, after assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Forge told him that such an investigation has already begun. Burns asked that the investigation be completed and a written report presented to him "as soon as possible." Ý

"This is a serious breach of the rules," Burns said, adding that the person who leaked such information to the media could be held in contempt of court.

"Everyone associated with the grand jury process knows that process is secret," Burns said.

He also denied another motion filed recently by Foggo's attorney requesting that Foggo's case be separated from that of Wilkes and that it be tried on the East Coast.

-- Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426 or wbennett@nctimes.com. This Associated Press contributed to this story.