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In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
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Defense contractor acquitted of selling used parts as new
Monday August 11, 2003
By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO (AP) A Sacramento-area defense contractor and its
co-owners have been acquitted of federal charges they sold hundreds
of used parts to the military that were unknowingly used in special
forces helicopters and Air Force jets.
Aerometals, of El Dorado Hills, was indicted in May on
allegations it obtained surplus parts and sold them to the
government as new. Prosecutors said the company could have, but did
not, seek permission to provide surplus parts under the contracts
valued at more than $3.57 million.
A federal jury disagreed Thursday, finding the company and
co-owners Rex Kamphefner and Guy Icenogle not guilty on all
charges.
The company said everything it supplied was ``new'' under the
terms of its federal contract, though the contract had several
interpretations for what constituted a new part. The parts were
``new surplus'' unused, but purchased commercially or from the
government instead of from the original manufacturer. And the
government had approved the parts for such use.
The company had two contracts with the Department of Defense's
Tampa, Fla.-based Special Operations Command in 2000 and 2001.
Aerometals supplied about 443 parts for the MD500 Series
helicopters at a cost of about $1,776,977, and about 194 parts for
about $1,792,704 for the Mission Enhanced Little Bird modified
version of the MD500, the indictment says.
It also had a 2000 contract with the Defense Supply Center in
Richmond, Va., to supply three new rudder mechanisms for the Air
Force's KC-135 aerial refueling jets. The indictment alleged the
company cleaned and repainted the used mechanisms to look new
before selling them to the government.
The indictment followed an investigation by the U.S. Army
Criminal Investigation Command, the Defense Criminal Investigative
Service, and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
On the Net:
www.aerometals.aero/index.php
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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