Westminster : Man Pleads Guilty to Accepting Kickbacks

A Westminster man pleaded guilty in Los Angeles on Monday to charges that he accepted about $15,000 in kickbacks on subcontracts for military communications systems.

Carl Andy Romero, 70, admitted to two counts of accepting kickbacks and one count of defrauding the Defense Department and his employer, Datron Systems Inc. of Simi Valley.

Romero worked as a senior buyer for the company during 1981, Assistant U.S. Atty. Fred D. Heather said.

The kickbacks Romero admitted receiving involved contracts for tactical satellite communications and a system for Army and Navy antennas, according to a federal grand jury indictment filed in July.

In return for the guilty pleas, Heather said the government will drop the remainder of a 16-count indictment returned in July.

U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts accepted Romero’s plea and scheduled sentencing for Feb. 12. Romero, who remains free on bail, faces a maximum sentence of nine years in prison and $21,000 in fines.