US Marine gets six years

A US Marine captain was sentenced to six years in federal prison Monday for conspiring with his wife to skim nearly $1.7 million from government contracts in Iraq. Eric Schmidt, who still serves with the First Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California, pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and filing a false tax return that hid the illicit income from his scheme.
His wife Janet pleaded guilty to a tax offense for failing to report the income she received from her illicit dealings. She faces up to three years behind bars and is due to be sentenced on March 7. According to court documents, the 40-year-old Marine directed contracts to an Iraqi firm, the Al-Methwad company, during his yearlong deployment to Iraq in 2008. After Al-Methwad was awarded the contract, Jane Schmidt used funds from the company to purchase fewer or inferior products than those required by the contract and got them delivered to Marines in Iraq.