DEFENDANT PLEADS GUILTY IN CASE INVOLVING
SCHEME TO DEFRAUD THE U.S. ARMY IN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division announced today that a former Department of Defense official has pleaded guilty to charges related to a scheme to defraud the U.S. Army in Seoul, South Korea.

Percy Lee Powers, 49, of Seoul, South Korea, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly at federal court in Washington, D.C. today to one count of conspiring to defraud the United States and one count of bribery. Powers admitted to defrauding the United States Army of more than $55,000 and accepting more than $30,000 in bribes.

Powers, who agreed to cooperate with the government’s investigation, faces a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison, a three-year term of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for March 31, 2005.

According to a criminal information filed on Sept. 10, 2004, Powers was previously employed as an official of the United States Department of Defense, serving as the Deputy Commander and Civilian Executive Assistant for the United States Army, Depot Support Activity, Far East (DSAFE) for United States Forces, Korea and responsible for purchases and contracts by and for the U.S. Army performed through DSAFE. Powers admitted that from 2001 to 2003, he used his official position to violate DOD contracting rules and sole-source several DOD contracts for truck parts, others supplies, and services to a Korean contractor’s company in exchange for money.

This case is being prosecuted by Deputy Chief Raymond Hulser and Trial Attorney James A. Crowell IV of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, headed by Section Chief Noel Hillman, and investigated by the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the Los Angeles Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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