Ex-Wedtech Head Gets 27-Month Term

The former president of Wedtech Corp. was sentenced Monday to 27 months in prison for giving perjured testimony at the trial of E. Robert Wallach.

Anthony Guariglia’s false testimony caused an appeals court on Friday to reverse the racketeering convictions of Wallach, a close friend of ex-U.S. Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III, and two co-defendants.

The perjury case stemmed from Guariglia’s testimony during the summer of 1989 against Wallach, a San Francisco attorney who was charged with taking illegal payments from Wedtech officers to lobby Meese and other officials on government contracts.

Wedtech, once a small South Bronx machine shop, grew into a $100-million government contractor through various bribe schemes. It collapsed in 1986 amid allegations of corruption.

U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey said he did not consider the appeal court’s action in sentencing Guariglia. The judge said he imposed the 27-month sentence to deter other government witnesses from committing perjury.

Guariglia, 38, already served a five-month sentence as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. He is free on bond pending the appeal of his February conviction on contempt and two counts of perjury.

Mukasey said Guariglia had “calculatedly and reapeatedly” lied when he testified at Wallach’s trial.