Army Sgt. Ramiro Pena Jr. has pleaded guilty to accepting $100,000 in bribe payments and jewelry from Afghan vendors in exchange for lucrative contracts at the Humanitarian Assistance Yard at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Pena, 43, of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, told Judge Thomas B. Russell at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky that he was guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with the military’s supply contracts, according to a Justice Department statement.
He even accepted a Rolex watch in connection with the contracts bribery scheme, the statement said.
“Pena admitted that he sent some of the cash to his family in Kentucky, which he dispersed throughout numerous greeting cards to avoid drawing attention to the thickness of any particular envelope,” the statement said. “Pena also used the bribe money to pay his family’s personal expenses both in Afghanistan and in the U.S., and to purchase a Harley Davidson motorcycle.”
Prosecutors say Sgt. Pena accepted the bribes while working at the Humanitarian Assistance Yard from January 2008 through September 2009 alongside his supervisor, Army Master Sgt. Jimmy Dennis.
During that time, the two men were responsible for contracting with local vendors to purchase supplies necessary to support humanitarian relief in Afghanistan. Sgt. Pena helped oversee 217 of the contracts, which were collectively worth more than $30 million, according to the statement.
In May 2014, Master Sgt. Dennis pleaded guilty in the Western District of Tennessee to conspiracy to launder bribe payments. The following year, he was sentenced to serve 41 months in prison and was ordered to forfeit $115,000, the statement said.
• Maggie Ybarra can be reached at mybarra@washingtontimes.com.
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