Contractor Charged in Army Bribery Probe

By Mike Stobbe
The Associated Press

Tuesday 20 November 2007

Atlanta - A civilian contractor is accused of bribing a U.S. Army official in Kuwait to win millions of dollars in business with the military, according to a federal indictment disclosed Tuesday.

Terry Hall, 41, was indicted by a grand jury in the District of Columbia. His companies received more than $20 million in military contracts, but federal prosecutors say he delivered or transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to at least one Army official to get the business.

A federal prosecutor said at a detention hearing Tuesday in Atlanta that evidence suggests Hall made more than $2.5 million in bribe payments, and that there may be another indictment soon.

Hall, who has not filed a plea, has been linked to Army Maj. John L. Cockerham in one of the Pentagon's largest probes of military graft.

The connection was first reported by the San Antonio Express-News, which relied on court documents in confirming that the Army and FBI had been looking into Hall's dealings with Cockerham, who is based at Fort Sam Houston in Texas and is accused of bribery, conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction.

Federal attorneys would not confirm whether Hall's case was connected to Cockerham's.

Prosecutors allege that Cockerham, along with his wife and sister, took at least $9.6 million in bribes in 2004 and 2005 while Cockerham was a contract officer stationed in Kuwait. Jimmy Parks Jr., who represents Cockerham, has noted that contracts require officers and lawyers above his client's rank to check and approve contracts.

Hall has no criminal record and was awarded two bronze stars for his military service, said his attorney, Paul Kish. Hall is a former Army sergeant who built a career in military contracting. From 2002 to 2004, he worked for the firm Kellogg, Brown and Root and provided food services at Camp Arifjan, near Kuwait City.

Hall was overseas - mainly in Kuwait - from 2002 until he moved to Georgia in August, Kish said. He was arrested Thursday near his home in Fairburn, Kish said.

At the detention hearing, court officials decided Hall would stay in custody at least until another hearing, to be held this week in U.S. District Court in Washington. If convicted of the bribery charge, Hall faces as many as 15 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and supervised release.

-------