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A Pennsylvania defense contractor that received earmarks from Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) has been barred from receiving further government contracts after allegedly offering kickbacks to another federal contractor. The Navy suspended Kuchera Defense Systems Inc., and its two owners, brothers Bill and Ronald Kuchera, from entering into new contracts with the federal government, a Navy spokesman confirmed. The suspension took effect on Dec. 22, and it marks the second time in less than a year that the firm was barred from new business with the government. Kuchera, based in Windber, Pa, has relied heavily on support from Murtha, who chairs...

A defense contractor with longtime ties to Rep. John Murtha said Thursday the Navy is lifting a suspension that has kept it from getting new government work. An agreement between Kuchera Defense Systems of Windber, Pa., and the Navy comes amid a Justice Department criminal investigation that appears to be intensifying. Dennis McGlynn, an attorney representing Kuchera, says the firm was removed from the Excluded Parties List System, a black book of contractors blocked from government work. McGlynn says Kuchera made some accounting adjustments to satisfy the Navy. "We are very pleased to be back in business as far as...

A former executive for a defense contractor with ties to powerful Democratic U.S. Rep. John Murtha is charged by federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh with taking about $200,000 in kickbacks from a subcontractor. The executive charged is Richard Ianieri, of Doylestown, who used to work for a company called Coherent Systems International Corp.

Federal prosecutors filed corruption charges yesterday against a onetime defense contractor who has ties to both U.S. Rep. John Murtha and a suburban Johnstown defense contractor currently under criminal investigation. Richard S. Ianieri, former president and CEO of Coherent Systems International Corp., was accused of accepting $200,000 in kickbacks. He is charged through a criminal information and is expected to plead guilty. No date has yet been set. According to the court filing entered yesterday, Mr. Ianieri is accused of taking the kickbacks from a date unknown through January 2006 while an officer for Coherent, which was a prime contractor...

Companies Under Investigation Have Gotten Millions in EarmarksCROYLE TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Inside the LBK Ranch, a private game preserve on a scenic hilltop here, guests mingle at a stone lodge after hunting deer and wild boar. Signs posted at intervals along the fence warn: "No Trespassing: U.S. Govt. Testing Facility." Defense firm owner Bill Kuchera and his wife, Lena, the owners of the 161-acre property, live in an upscale log home within the preserve and go to extensive efforts to keep out strangers. There are no visible signs of government testing, but behind the 10-foot fence and electronic gate lies...

A Johnstown-area defense firm under investigation for possible contract fraud received an infusion of cash during its start-up years from a narcotics trafficker with whom one of the company's founders admitted engaging in the drug trade. At the time, Kuchera Industries was a startup company that assembled electronics components and sought federal contracts -- contracts that would ultimately make the company and its sister firm, Kuchera Defense Systems, multimillion-dollar businesses. Peter Whorley, a Florida man and business associate of William Kuchera, one of the top officers at the companies, put up $50,000 to help Kuchera Industries find its feet, according...

Defense firm got money from drug dealer Thursday, June 04, 2009 By Dennis B. Roddy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A Johnstown-area defense firm under investigation for possible contract fraud received an infusion of cash during its start-up years from a narcotics trafficker with whom one of the company's founders admitted engaging in the drug trade. At the time, Kuchera Industries was a startup company that assembled electronics components and sought federal contracts -- contracts that would ultimately make the company and its sister firm, Kuchera Defense Systems, multimillion-dollar businesses. Peter Whorley, a Florida man and business associate of William Kuchera, one of...

In response to a question from a reporter, Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn.) adamantly denied any connection to Kuchera Defense Systems, Inc., which is currently being investigated for alleged fraud.

Federal agents who raided a suburban Johnstown defense contractor and the homes of its two owners are attempting to determine whether the company inflated its payroll in order to run up higher expenses in federal contracts. ~snip! He has received an estimated $60,000 in campaign contributions from the Kucheras since 2002, placing them among the top 20 donors to Mr. Murtha's campaign and leadership PAC. Mr. Murtha, who has denied any wrongdoing, has not been named as a suspect in the Kuchera investigation or another ongoing probe into the now-defunct PMA Group, a defense lobbying firm whose staff and clients...

WASHINGTON — So powerful was Representative John P. Murtha at one time that he used to put up billboards in his Western Pennsylvania district declaring that “the P is for Power.” Few in Congress dared disagree: he doled out or withheld billions in federal money each year for lawmakers’ pet projects, better known as earmarks. Now, however, a string of federal criminal investigations of contractors or lobbyists close to Mr. Murtha, the top Democrat on the defense appropriations subcommittee, are threatening to undermine his backroom clout. In the weeks since the news that prosecutors had raided the offices of the...

Federal agents raided the offices of a Western Pennsylvania defense contractor that has received millions in federal earmarks at the request of Rep. John Murtha, according to local media reports. The offices of Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense Systems were shuttered for the day following the raids, the chief financial officer told the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat. The companies' phone system says they will open again Friday morning, and e-mails sent to top company officials went unanswered. Based in Windber, Pa., just outside Johnstown, Kuchera won $8.2 million in federal defense earmarks in the 2008 budget. The earmarks came at the request...