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A Military Contractor and two civilian employees guilty of bribery

Two former civilian employees at the Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB) in Albany,
Georgia, and one military contractor were convicted by a federal jury today of bribery
and fraud charges related to military trucking contracts, announced Assistant Attorney
General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S.
Attorney Michael J. Moore of the Middle District of Georgia.

Christopher Whitman, 48, co-owner of United Logistics, an Albany-based trucking
company and freight transportation broker, was convicted of 43 counts of honest
services wire fraud, five counts of bribery, five counts of obstructing justice and one
count of theft of government property.  Shawn McCarty, 36, of Albany, Georgia, a
former employee at the MCLB-Albany, was convicted of 15 counts of honest services
wire fraud, one count of bribery and one count of obstructing justice.  Bradford Newell,
43, of Sylvester, Georgia, also a former employee at the MCLB-Albany, was convicted
of 13 counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of bribery and one count of theft
of government property.

According to evidence presented at trial, Whitman paid more than $800,000 in bribes
to three former officials of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) at the MCLB-Albany,
including the head of the DLA Traffic Office and McCarty, to obtain commercial
trucking business from the base.  The transportation contracts were loaded with
unnecessary premium-priced requirements, including expedited service, expensive
trailers and exclusive use, which requires that freight be shipped separately from other
equipment, even if that results in a truck not being filled to capacity.  As a result of
these contracts, Whitman’s company grossed more than $37 million over less than four
years.

The evidence further demonstrated that Whitman paid approximately $200,000 in
bribes to the former inventory control manager of the Distribution Management Center
at MCLB-Albany, Newell and others, who used their official positions to help Whitman
steal more than $1 million in surplus equipment from the base, including bulldozers,
cranes and front-end loaders.  In exchange for the bribes, Newell and the inventory
control manager removed the surplus items from Marine Corps inventory and arranged
to have them transported off the base by Whitman’s company.  Whitman then arranged
to improve and paint the stolen equipment, and sell it to private purchasers.   

One former United Logistics employee, a business partner of Whitman’s, two former
DLA officials and another MCLB official previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the
fraud and corruption scheme.

The case was investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, with assistance
from the Dougherty County District Attorney’s Office Economic Crime Unit, Defense
Criminal Investigative Service, DLA Office of the Inspector General, and the
Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General.  The case is being prosecuted by
Deputy Chief J.P. Cooney and Trial Attorney Richard B. Evans of the Criminal Division’
s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Alan Dasher of the Middle
District of Georgia.  The associated forfeiture litigation is being handled by Assistant
Deputy Chief Darrin McCullough of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering
Section and the Middle District of Georgia.