Man admits to Walter Reed kickback scheme

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updated 3:45 p.m. ET March 11, 2007

GREENBELT, Md. - A man has pleaded guilty in federal court to participating in a kickback scheme involving contracts at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Leon Krachyna Jr., 39, pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to bribe a public official and defraud the Army, U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said.

According to the plea agreement, from June 1999 to March 2002, Krachyna and an unnamed accomplice conspired to give kickbacks to a civilian contract specialist employed by the Army Medical Command. The unnamed official was responsible for procurement for the medical center.

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The official helped Krachyna and his business partner secure government contracts worth as much as $1.4 million in exchange for a 10 percent cut, according to the plea agreement. Krachyna admitted paying the public official $10,000 to $30,000, according to the document.

Though not named in the plea agreement, Louis Pisani, Krachyna’s former business partner in Home Sweet Home Moving and Storage Inc., and Kevin R. Roach, a former civilian contract specialist at Walter Reed, were charged in October in the kickback scheme. The charges against Roach, 45, of Fredericksburg, Va., and Pisani, 40, of Silver Spring, are pending.

Krachyna, of Rockville, Md., faces up to five years in prison. No sentencing date has been set.