A retired army master sergeant on Friday pleaded guilty to bribery and money laundering charges stemming from his tour of duty in Iraq. Ronald Joseph Radcliffe, 43, first entered a not guilty plea in May. But on Friday, he changed his plea to guilty as part of an agreement with prosecutors. Radcliff was in Iraq from January 2004 to February 2005 as a member of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division.
While stationed in Kirkuk as a supply official, Radcliffe accepted money from Metin Subasi, a Turkish national, according to the indictment. He then steered Army contracts to several of Subasi's companies. He later mailed cash to his girlfriend in Hawaii, telling her to deposit it in the bank in small increments so as not to tip off the Internal Revenue Service, according to the indictment.
He also carried cash with him when he visited Hawaii in September 2004. On Friday, in US District Court in Honolulu Radcliffe admitted receiving at least $37,600 in return for influencing the contracting process. The money laundering charge arose from transactions involving the proceeds of the bribery. He faces maximum prison terms of 15 years on one bribery charge and 20 years on one money laundering charge.
At the time of his initial plea in May, Radcliffe was a civilian employee of defence contractor KBR in Afghanistan. Radcliffe was also initially charged with mail and wire fraud, but those charges will be dropped as part of his plea agreement. He is free on bail secured by property, the US Attorney's office in Honolulu said. Sentencing was set for February 8.
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