Teledyne-Pentagon Fraud Figures Get Light Sentence

The first two defendants convicted in the Pentagon corruption investigation drew one-year prison sentences today, but the judge suspended parts of the terms and ordered the rest served in halfway houses so the pair can continue to work for a defense contractor.

U.S. District Judge Richard L. Williams sentenced George H. Kaub, on leave as a vice president of Teledyne Electronics in San Diego, to sentences of one year on each of eight counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and false statements. He ordered that the sentences run concurrently so that they total only one year and that six months of this be suspended.

The judge ordered Kaub to spend the rest of the period in a halfway house and fined him $30,000.

Williams gave one-year concurrent sentences to Eugene R. Sullivan, also a Teledyne vice president on leave, but suspended all of the term except three months to be spent in a halfway house.

Kaub could have been sentenced to up to 40 years in prison and fined as much as $2 million, and Sullivan had faced up to 20 years and $1 million in fines for four convictions of conspiracy and wire fraud.

‘Error in Judgment’

Kaub, speaking in a voice choked with emotion, told the court, “I did make a serious error in judgment” and asked for an opportunity to make amends by community service.

Sullivan said, “I never intended to harm anyone or defraud anyone. I have learned some very hard lessons.”

In passing sentence, Williams said, “This trial was a window to Defense Department procurement practices, and those practices are so outrageous that a world of so-called consultants--and as far as I am concerned that is another word for rogues--are permitted to live a parasitic life off the government.

“I can’t believe our government, the Congress and executive, lets a system like this endure,” the judge said.

A jury found the two guilty in April of participating in a scheme to hire defense consultant William L. Parkin, who, in turn, bribed a Navy official to obtain inside information that would help Teledyne get a $24-million contract for hand-held radar detection kits.

Williams said that an opening in a halfway house in the San Diego area is expected to be available within the next 30 days and that the men will remain free until then. He gave Sullivan additional time off, saying he could surrender on Aug. 2 so that he may attend his daughter’s wedding on July 29.