Former Defense Consultant Pleads Guilty to Fraud Involving Executives of Unisys

WASHINGTON —  Former defense consultant William Sanda pleaded guilty Friday to federal fraud charges in the Pentagon Ill Wind investigation, joining a growing list of individuals convicted of conspiring to peddle confidential defense information to private contractors.

A middle-level target in the extensive probe, Sanda admitted to an illegal scheme involving unnamed Unisys Corp. executives, who paid him $750 a day to obtain Defense Department information about a $100-million Navy contract the company hoped to win.

Sanda is the 15th person convicted in the ongoing investigation into bribery, corruption and fraud in the Pentagon procurement system.

He could get a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on the single count charging conspiracy to defraud the United States, to commit wire fraud and to commit theft and conversion of government property.

Sanda served as a front man for consultant William L. Parkin, who used bribery and personal connections to obtain access to inside information. Under the scheme, Sanda sold the information to the Unisys executives and divided about $25,000 in profits with Parkin.

The arrangement was typical of conspiracies uncovered by federal investigators, who have found extensive evidence that consultants bribed Pentagon employees to obtain information and sold it to defense industry executives eager to gain an advantage over competitors.

Parkin, a central figure in the probe, has already been sentenced to 26 months in prison as a result of his guilty plea in March to conspiracy, fraud and bribery charges.

The conspiracy between the two men involved the Navy’s plans to award a lucrative contract for the design and production of sophisticated communication shelters known as Advanced Tactical Air Command Central (ATACC) in early 1986.

With access to inside information about the procurement--some of it marked “for official use only”--Parkin encouraged Sanda to contact the companies that were bidding on the project, according to an account to which Sanda admitted.

Unisys officials agreed to buy the information under a contract paying Sanda $750 a day. Ultimately, however, the Navy decided to eliminate Unisys from the ATACC competition.

Although the plea agreement states that Sanda negotiated with Unisys executives “in return for providing confidential information,” it does not identify the executives. Three company executives, including former Vice President Charles F. Gardner, have pleaded guilty in the investigation.

The court document describes Washington consultant Thomas E. Muldoon as a key link in the Parkin network. Muldoon allegedly obtained important procurement information from a Marine Corps employee.

Muldoon, whose offices were searched when the Ill Wind investigation was disclosed publicly nearly 15 months ago, has not been charged.