16TH DEFENDANT IN ONGOING CHICAGO GENERAL
SERVICES ADMINISTRATION CORRUPTION PROBE PLEADS GUILTY

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division, Thomas Kneir, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI, and Harvey G. Florian, General Services Administration Regional Inspector General, announced that Raletta Ingram, a former GSA building supervisor, has pleaded guilty to bribery in connection with the awarding of GSA contracts at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago, Illinois.

Ingram, who had been employed by GSA for over 30 years, pleaded guilty today to a criminal information charging her with bribery. At a hearing before the Honorable Harry D. Leinenweber, Ingram admitted to having thousands of dollars worth of home improvements done to her house by GSA contractors. These home improvements included the replacement of her windows and siding. The government alleges that Ingram provided these GSA contractors with favorable treatment in the award of GSA contracts.

Ingram is scheduled to be sentenced on June 10, 2004. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Also today, defendant James Kramer, a former GSA official who previously pled guilty to bribery, was sentenced by the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall to five years probation, six months home confinement, and $25,000 in restitution. In his plea, defendant Kramer admitted accepting payoffs from GSA contractors in exchange for favorable treatment in the awarding of contracts at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago, Illinois.

The GSA contracts case resulted from a five-year undercover investigation in which numerous consensual recordings were made of GSA officials and contractors by cooperating GSA employees. The investigation is continuing.

Sixteen defendants have been charged to date in the investigation, and Ingram is the last to plead guilty. The other guilty pleas to date include:

Charles Funke, a GSA contractor;
Jerry Taylor, a former GSA supervisor;
Theresa Pitt, a former FBI typist;
Carolyn Pease, a GSA contractor;
James Kramer, a former GSA supervisor;
Scott Bravos, a GSA contractor;
John Gibson, a GSA contractor;
Gerasimos Valsamis, a GSA contractor; and
Glenn Hardy, a GSA supervisor.

The six defendants previously sentenced are:

Arthur Orr, a former GSA pipefitter;
Barry Lewinson, a GSA contractor;
Terrence Kulick, a GSA contractor;
Merritt Pulkrabek, a Court Security Officer;
Scott Arias, a GSA contractor; and
James Barratt, a GSA contractor.

The prosecution is being handled by Trial Attorneys Alison Van Horn and Peter Zeidenberg of the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., headed by Noel L. Hillman, Chief, with the assistance of Assistant United States Attorney Dean Polales of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois; the remainder of the United States Attorney’s Office is recused from this investigation. The investigation is being conducted jointly by the Chicago Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Chicago Zone Investigations Office of the General Services Administration Office of Inspector General. U.S. Marshal Kim R. Widup and the Marshals Service in Chicago also cooperated in the investigation.

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