IRAQ: Ex-Halliburton Worker Found Guilty on Kickbacks

HOUSTON - A former Halliburton Co. worker was sentenced on Friday to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty in federal court in Illinois to taking more than $110,000 in kickbacks from an Iraqi company in 2004.

Glenn Allen Powell, who worked as a subcontracts administrator for Halliburton's KBR unit, will also pay $91,000 in restitution for directing a U.S. government contract worth $609,000 to an unnamed company in 2004 to renovate a warehouse, according to Sharon Paul, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Illinois.

The kickback was discovered by KBR during an internal investigation.

"When the issue was discovered, KBR removed the company in question from consideration for any future work as a subcontractor. KBR also issued the government a credit for the amount of the improper payment," Halliburton spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said in a statement.

The contract was part of KBR's ongoing work for the Pentagon to provide services and support to U.S. troops under the LOGCAP contracts in Iraq. Those contracts and the company's work on the Iraqi oil infrastructure has yielded more than $10 billion in revenues for Halliburton.

The case was heard in U.S. District Court in Illinois because the district is home to the U.S. Army Operations Support Command and Army Field Support Command.

Another former KBR employee, Jeff Alex Mazon, was indicted in March for devising a scheme to defraud the U.S. military of more than $3.5 million under a contract to supply fuel tankers for operations in Kuwait.

His trial date could be set at a court hearing scheduled for Monday.

Halliburton, which was formerly headed by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, is the Pentagon's largest private contractor in Iraq.

The Houston-based company has been investigated for several billing discrepancies, including fuel charges and food services, although several of those issues have been resolved, the company has said.

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