TWO DEFENDANTS IN ONGOING CHICAGO GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION CORRUPTION PROBE PLEAD 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 two defendants have pleaded guilty in connection with a bribery scheme involving the awarding of GSA contracts at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago, Illinois.

Glenn Hardy, a former GSA mechanical supervisor, and Gerasimos Valsamis, a former GSA contractor, pleaded guilty to bribery at U.S. District Court in Chicago, before the Honorable Elaine E. Bucklo. Both defendants face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Sentencing for both defendants is scheduled for March 26, 2004.

According to the plea agreements, Hardy admitted receiving thousands of dollars in bribes from various GSA contractors in exchange for providing them with favorable treatment in the award of GSA contracts. Valsamis admitted paying bribes to GSA officials in exchange for receiving favorable treatment in the awarding of GSA contracts.

Another defendant in the case, Merritt Pulkrabek, a former Court Security Officer who had been deputized as a Special Deputy United States Marshal, was fined $1,000 today for his role in disclosing information about an FBI investigation into the bribery scheme. Pulkrabek cooperated with the government’s investigation.

Pulkrabek had pleaded guilty to disclosing to a target of the investigation the fact that the FBI was conducting an undercover investigation. Pulkrabek learned this information from an FBI typist, Carolyn Pease, who previously pleaded guilty for her role in the offense.

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 Pulkrabek was the fourth to be sentenced. The other guilty pleas to date include:

• Scott Arias, a GSA contractor;
• 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; and
• James Barratt, a GSA contractor.

The three defendant previously sentenced are:

• Arthur Orr, a former GSA pipefitter;
• Barry Lewinson, a GSA contractor; and
• Terrence Kulick, a GSA contractor;

The other defendant charged in the investigation is Raletta Ingram, a former GSA supervisor.

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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