Set Smoot Free - AGAIN - Part II

43-year-old Kevin Andre Smoot from Woodlands, Texas was up before Judge Michael M. Mihm for sentencing yesterday, he was once the managing director of Eagle Global Logistics, Inc.'s freight forwarding station in Houston and got mired in the corruption of his employers who were defrauding the US Government on Iraqi transport contracts.

His boss, Christopher Cahill, was the regional vice president for the Middle East and India for Eagle Global Logistics or EGL and is already serving a 30-month prison sentence for inflating invoices for military shipments to Baghdad through EGL's subcontract with Kellogg, Brown and Root - (then) a branch of Haliburton -- under the LOGCAP III prime contract.

Weighing the good from the bad, Judge Mihm said he was certain Mr. Smoot would never commit another crime and until that point and led a good life. But, his sentence should reflect how war contracts should not be a part of 'corrupt practices.'

Along with his prison sentence, Mr. Smoot must pay $17,970 in fines and restitution and serve two years on probation. He'll begin serving his sentence at the least secure facility closest to his family in Texas beginning Jan. 28.

See previous Lord Patel Posts Set Smoot Free and especially the post from people who know him personally.

Smoot played a tiny bit part in the massive fraud that has been taking taking place in Iraq by huge Corporations like Halliburton / KBR - he finally pleaded guilty, although his initital response to enquiries was to lie to the FBI when federal investigators came asking about a 'war risk surcharge' of 50 cents for each kilogram of freight transported to Baghdad.

Fuck me the guy's job was on the line.... go after the really big guys who have been reeling in millions.

Lord Patel Says again SET SMOOT FREE... and really go after the guys who really are behind the big fruds .. for example read the post about how oil both crude and refined is STILL NOT METERED in Iraq FOUR YEARS AFTER THE ILLEGAL INVASION .. allowing massive fraud daily.

If anyone has an address for Smoot please post it here.

PS Public Law 108-106, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense and for the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, 2004, appropriated $18 billion for the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF). To oversee the handling and treatment of these funds by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), this law also established the Inspector General of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA-IG) to provide for the independent and objective conduct and supervision of audits and investigations relating to the CPA's programs and operations. (www.sigir.mil website of his office for more information of the massive billion pound boondoggles)

See The Inspector General's October 2007 report for Congress here

"The Inspector General (IG) testified this quarter before the House Oversight and Governmental Affairs Committee on the status of corruption within the Government of Iraq (GOI). As the IG reported to the Committee, corruption in Iraq is a “second insurgency” that exerts a corrosive force on Iraq’s fledgling democracy."

And just to put progress in Iraq on a definite and quantative basis....

"In an October 6, 2004 briefing to the Secretary of the Army, the PCO reported 26 electricity restoration projects completed and 12 ongoing. Of the completed projects, 11 are generation projects, 12 are transmission projects, and 3 are management projects. The 30-day average peak generation capacity in September was approximately 4,970 MW, up from 4,700 MW in July. On September 6, 2004, the system reached a record peak generating capacity
of 5,100 MW. " Report by IG October '04

Electricity Production Breaks Records

Thanks to new U.S.-financed electrical projects, a drop in attacks on infrastructure, and improved maintenance programs by the Ministry of Electricity, Iraq’s electrical output this quarter reached its highest levels since the 2003 invasion, averaging over 4,500 MW per day.
Highlights of IG report Oct 2007

..and from the report also ..."total relief and reconstruction investment for Iraq from all sources—the United States, Iraq, and international donors—passed the $100 billion mark."

Which to put it another way is 50 Bn Sterling or the total exposure of the UK Treasury (AKA UK taxpayer) to Northern Rock....er...currently

By the Way : Silly Fact No 778 : A Smoot is a unit of measure (see Wikipedia as well and here ). Enter 1 smoot in meters at Google and the calculator will respond that 1 smoot is 1.7018 meters. Google also uses the smoot as an optional unit of measurement in their Google Earth software.