|
In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
|
Former Boeing managers plead innocent in trade secrets case
Monday August 18, 2003
LOS ANGELES (AP) Two former Boeing Co. managers pleaded
innocent on Monday to charges they plotted to secure trade secrets
from competitor Lockheed Martin Co. to help Boeing win rocket
contracts from the Air Force.
Kenneth Branch and William Erskine face a single federal count
each of conspiracy to conceal and possess trade secrets. They face
up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted. A trial was
scheduled for Oct. 14.
A federal indictment alleges Branch, a former Lockheed employee,
brought to Boeing thousands of pages of documents that included
financial and technical details on Lockheed's planned bid for the
$1.88 billion in contracts.
The deal, part of the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch
Vehicle Program, was eventually divided between Chicago-based
Boeing and Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed in 1999.
Prosecutors say Erskine arranged to have Branch hired away by
Boeing if he brought Lockheed proprietary documents with him.
Erskine's attorney, Steve Madison, said Monday his client never
served as a supervisor for Branch and simply sat in on his job
interview. Madison said Erskine only unwittingly possessed ``a
handful'' of pages of documents relating to the case, not
thousands.
``What you really see is Bill Erskine getting caught in the
crossfire in this battle between two huge corporations, Lockheed
and Boeing,'' Madison said.
A message left at the office of Branch's attorney, Richard
Steingard, was not immediately returned. Steingard previously
called it unfortunate that the government is prosecuting his client
instead of ``corporate officials that created and implemented this
plan.''
The Air Force last month punished Boeing for using Lockheed's
records by indefinitely banning it from bidding on satellite
launching contracts. It also took away seven satellite launches
from Boeing.
Boeing fired Branch, 64, and Erskine, 43, in 1999 after an
internal investigation. Both are from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Larry Satchell, whose job was to ensure Boeing's bid came in
under Lockheed's, was suspended and has since retired. He was not
named in the criminal complaint.
Boeing itself was also not named in the criminal complaint.
Lockheed filed a separate federal civil lawsuit last month
against Boeing, the two managers and Satchell.
On the Net:
http://www.boeing.com/
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
|