Cunningham scandal saga inches along

By: TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer
Three await sentencing and Wilkes awaits prison assignment | Sunday, March 16, 2008 10:44 PM PDT ∞

A little more than two years after former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham was sentenced to 100 months in prison in the largest congressional bribery case ever prosecuted, the scandal saga inches along with much to be resolved.

While their once high-flying and wheeling and dealing days are long behind Cunningham and former Poway defense contractor Brent Wilkes, three other co-conspirators still await sentencing.

And the trial for a fourth man linked to the case, the former No. 3 man at the Central Intelligence Agency, has yet to take place.

The two local figures in the case, Cunningham and Wilkes, each sit behind prison bars with plenty of time to think about how their former world of corporate jets, lavish meals and trips and ready access to cash collapsed.

As of last week, Wilkes was in a San Diego jail cell waiting to learn where the federal Bureau of Prisons will assign him to serve his 12-year term for bribing Cunningham at the expense of U.S. taxpayers.

Cunningham is serving his sentence for tax evasion and accepting $2.4 million in bribes at a federal prison work camp 10 miles southeast of Tucson, Ariz.

On Monday, Mitchell Wade, a former Washington defense contractor who overpaid for a house Cunningham owned, thus setting the stage for the lawmaker's downfall in 2005, will be in a Washington, D.C., courtroom for a status hearing in his case.

Two New York bankers who admitted laundering the Wilkes and Wade bribery money have sentencing dates before U.S. District Judge Larry Burns in San Diego in May.

Cunningham marks two years in custody
Cunningham, the once powerful North County lawmaker, began serving his sentence March 3, 2006.

Joe Salazar, director of the federal prison work camp where Cunningham now resides, said last week that he walks the prison yard daily and sees nearly all the inmates. He would not share specifics on Cunningham, a Republican who represented North County's 50th Congressional District for more than a decade.

"Where he is assigned and what he is assigned to is not public information," he said.

The camp is a low-security facility. Inmates are assigned a work detail, such as cleaning floors and toilets, painting and kitchen duty.

Cunningham can earn 54 days off his sentence each year for good behavior. When he was sentenced, his attorney said that if he cooperated with the continuing investigation, prosecutors could ask for a reduction in his sentence beyond the potential credit for good behavior.

There's a strong indication, however, that prosecutors, who would not comment on the issue, aren't so inclined.

During Wilkes' trial, the prosecution told the jury that they didn't call Cunningham to the witness stand because they didn't want to be put in a position of having to respond to a petition to reduce Cunningham's sentence.

Awaiting move to prison
Wilkes, 53, was convicted in November of plying Cunningham with cash payments of more than $625,000 and pricey gifts ---- including machine gun shooting lessons.

In exchange, Cunningham used his influence in Congress to steer Wilkes more than $80 million in contracts for his now-defunct document scanning company, ADCS.

Of the scandal's five defendants, Wilkes was the only one whose case went to trial; Cunningham and three other men pleaded guilty.

When he was sentenced Feb. 19, Wilkes continued to proclaim his innocence. He is appealing his conviction by jury on 13 charges related to the bribery.

For now, he remains locked up among about 1,000 inmates at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a federal jail in downtown San Diego.

Wilkes asked to remain there while a court considers setting him free on bail during the appeal process. But earlier this month, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the Bureau of Prisons can move him to a prison whenever it wants.

Metropolitan Correctional Center spokeswoman Nellie Klein, citing security concerns, would not say last week where Wilkes might be headed.

The celebrity attorney who represented Wilkes at trial, Mark Geragos, is no longer involved in the case. Public defender Shereen Charlick is handling the appeal despite the government's contention that Wilkes is hiding money and can afford his own attorney.

"I take the absolute position that Mr. Wilkes does not have the ability to pay for counsel," Charlick said Tuesday. "We would not waste the resources of our office, which are scarce, for someone who can afford it."

At one point, Wilkes faced a second corruption trial for allegedly bribing Kyle "Dusty" Foggo ---- the former No. 3 man at the CIA and Wilkes' childhood friend ---- to win no-bid contracts with the spy agency.

Last month, prosecutors agreed to move Foggo's case from San Diego to Virginia and said they were dropping the charges against Wilkes. Foggo is slated to go on trial later this year.

'Sweetheart' sentence?
Still awaiting their punishments are Wade and the two New Yorkers who laundered the cash, Thomas Kontogiannis and John Michael.

No sentencing date has been set for Wade, who pleaded to conspiracy and election fraud 25 months ago and is hoping to avoid spending the up to 11 years in prison he could face by cooperating with prosecutors.

Wade, who was the star government witness at Wilkes' trial, has been free pending his sentencing.

When he sentenced Wilkes last month, Judge Burns said he believed Wade won't see a tough sentence.

"It's fairly evident to me he's going to get some sweetheart deal," Burns said.

Bankers await fate
The bribery scheme's financiers, Kontogiannis and his nephew Michael, each face up to 10 years in prison.

Michael pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to a grand jury while Kontogiannis pleaded guilty to money laundering.

Thomas is free while he awaits sentencing; Kontogiannis is under federal guard at a medical rehabilitation facility in New York.

Burns has made clear his displeasure with Kontogiannis, who prosecutors allege continued running an unrelated $100 million mortgage fraud scheme even after pleading guilty.

The judge revoked bail for Kontogiannis in December, ordering federal marshals to take him into custody immediately. But Kontogiannis managed to avoid that by electing to undergo heart bypass surgery.

Further fallout
The Cunningham scandal focused attention on legislative "earmarks" since that was how he was able to steer contracts to Wade and Wilkes.

The practice allows lawmakers to slip funding for pet projects into appropriations bills with little scrutiny.

In the months since Cunningham's escapades came to light, earmark reform legislation has been adopted but the practice has not been entirely abandoned.

And just last week, the House of Representatives, which had seen its ethics committee do little in recent years, agreed to create an independent ethics panel.

The Office of Congressional Ethics staffed by three Democratic and three Republican appointees can initiate investigations if one member of each party agrees.

Until now, such investigations were launched only when House members asked for one, a practice rarely employed because of partisan politics.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 740-5442 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.

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