SAN DIEGO -- Tales of hookers in Hawaii, lavish Capitol Hill dinner parties, private jet junkets and free-flowing cash are expected to be heard when a trial for two men tied to the tawdry corruption of former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham begins in San Diego on Tuesday.

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Facing multiple counts of money laundering and bribery are former Poway defense contractor Brent Wilkes and New York financier John T. Michael. Each man has declared he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

A 28-page trial memorandum filed by federal prosecutors this week suggests that the government has a wealth of evidence to the contrary. And some of their most damaging material may come directly from Cunningham, who is listed as one of more than 40 potential prosecution witnesses.

The government contends that over an eight-year period starting in 1998, Wilkes obtained more than $80 million in defense contracts for his now-defunct firm, ADCS Inc., in exchange for more than $700,000 in cash and material bribes to Cunningham.

Michael is accused of laundering some of the money through his mortgage company, accepting several thousand dollars in exchange for his services.

Michael's uncle, Thomas Kontogiannis of New York, played a key role in those transactions, the government contends, describing both as "professional money launderers." Kontogiannis has pleaded guilty to bribing Cunningham and is awaiting sentencing.

'Chance to learn'

The trial is expected to last at least three weeks and may expose the inner workings of congressional appropriations, particularly "earmarks" -- legislative moves that lawmakers use to insert money for pet projects into spending bills.

"Beyond the good, bad and ugly of how Brent Wilkes bribed Duke Cunningham is a chance to learn about the system and why Mr. Wilkes decided the only way he could get ahead in Washington was to bribe a prominent appropriator," said Keith Ashdown of a Washington watchdog group called Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Cunningham, a former North County Republican congressman, pleaded guilty in late 2005 to tax evasion and receiving more than $2.4 million in bribes.

His attorney, K. Lee Blalack, would not say Friday if Cunningham will take the witness stand in the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns, the same judge who sentenced him to more than eight years in prison.

"That's up to the attorneys trying the case," Blalack said during a telephone interview.

That Cunningham has been transferred from an Arizona prison to the Metropolitan Correctional Center near San Diego's Front Street federal courthouse suggests he will appear.

'Hired gun'

Prosecutors contend in documents filed earlier this week that much of the graft that wound up in Cunningham's pockets came directly from Wilkes with Michael's help. Court documents name them as two of four major co-conspirators in the largest congressional corruption case ever uncovered.

Prosecutors allege Wilkes' bribes included trips, arranging prostitutes for Cunningham during a trip to Hawaii, Babylonian meals with fine wines costing thousands of dollars, a speed boat and cash.

Michael served as the banker, concealing more than $1 million in bribes from Kontogiannis, Wilkes and co-conspirator Mitchell Wade, according to the government's trial brief.

Cunningham sat on two powerful appropriations committees where he could single-handedly wrest money from the federal treasury in exchange for the illicit largess.

"Cunningham in effect acted as Wilkes' hired gun in Congress and interactions with Defense Department officials," prosecutors say.

On Monday, prosecutors and attorneys will skirmish over several issues in advance of the trial. Among those is whether Wilkes' attorney, Mark Geragos, can defeat a government move to quash his attempt to call 12 members of the House of Representatives to testify. The congressmen include Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, and former Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon.

Geragos, who has defended many high-profile clients and often appears on CNN's "Larry King Live," has said he wants to hear details from the lawmakers about the appropriations process, particularly the way in which earmarks get inserted into spending bills.

Wilkes launched ADCS in 1995 and shortly thereafter began his relationship with Cunningham, buying him expensive meals whenever he visited Washington, prosecutors said in their filing. In 1997, Wilkes bought Cunningham a $10,000 speed boat and a $1,000 trailer to transport it, the trial memorandum states.

When Cunningham's speed boat was damaged in a 1999 accident, Wilkes bought him a new one for $14,000.

In 2000, prosecutors say, Wilkes gave Cunningham $100,000. A day later, ADCS got another $20 million earmark, according to prosecutors.

In 2003, Wilkes got a $16.5 million contract through Cunningham, prosecutors say. In the same year, he purchased Super Bowl tickets and a vacation in Hawaii for Cunningham where he provided the congressman with $300-a-night prostitutes for two nights, prosecutors allege.

In 2004, Wilkes, using Michael and the firm owned by Kontogiannis, gave Cunningham $525,000 to pay off part of a mortgage on the congressman's Rancho Santa Fe estate, the prosecution alleges.

'Never bribed'

Among the potential witnesses are former Cunningham staffers, including three men who served at different times as his chief of staff. Kontogiannis, who faces up to 10 years when he is sentenced in November, also may be called to testify.

Wade, of the former Washington defense firm MZM, who provided Cunningham with a cabin cruiser named the Duke-Stir to live on at a Washington marina, also may appear.

Wade has been cooperating with authorities, prosecutors say, since pleading guilty last year to giving Cunningham more than $1 million in bribes. He faces up to 11 years in prison.

Michael and his attorneys have said little other than to declare his innocence. Efforts to reach them Friday were unsuccessful.

Wilkes and his attorney have not said much either, but Wilkes did issue a two-page written statement on Feb. 14, the day after he was indicted.

"Let me say loud and clear: I never bribed Duke Cunningham or anyone else," he declared, adding that he was glad the case would go to court where he said "the prosecutors who have staged this witch hunt will be exposed and where the truth, finally, will emerge.

"I guarantee you, I will be vindicated."

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.