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U.S. Department of Justice PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For Information, Contact Public Affairs |
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Former senior employee of military contractor and Department of Defense pleads guilty to criminal ethics violation
Washington, D.C. - Robert Fromm, 60, of Earlysville, Virginia, formerly senior vice-president of MZM, Inc. and, prior to that, program manager of the Defense Department’s Facilities Infrastructure and Engineering Systems (“FIRES”) Program, pled guilty today to a misdemeanor criminal violation of the lifetime post-employment ban, announced U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor, Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Special Agent in Charge Geoffrey A. Cherrington.
The plea occurred this afternoon before U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina, who is scheduled to sentence Fromm on January 14, 2008. Fromm faces a maximum sentence of one year of incarceration and a $100,000 fine.
According to the government’s evidence, from 2000 through 2004, Fromm managed and directed FIRES, a Defense Department program that involved scanning and digitizing various documents, information technology and data processing, and sensitive survey work for the Department of the Army’s National Ground Intelligence Center. Fromm's duties included: implementing FIRES contracts; submitting FIRES budget proposals; seeking funding sources for FIRES; developing an operational plan for FIRES; and evaluating the performance of MZM, Inc., a military contractor that had received over $10 million for work on FIRES. Fromm wrote a Statement of Work for MZM's FIRES contract.
In July 2004, Fromm began employment as a senior vice-president for MZM. Mitchell Wade, who has previously pled guilty to conspiring to bribe Congressman Randall Duke Cunningham, election fraud, and conspiring to commit honest services fraud, was the owner of MZM. Under federal ethics law, Fromm was prohibited from, on MZM’s behalf, making communications with and intending to influence Defense Department employees in connection with the FIRES program. While serving as an MZM employee and on behalf of MZM, Fromm communicated with Defense Department employees regarding FIRES matters. On or about September 10, 2004, Fromm accompanied a Defense Department employee to a briefing of the U.S. Army, in Arlington, Virginia. Fromm developed the briefing for FIRES. At the briefing, Fromm explained FIRES's views on funding a program. Also, on or about August 4, 2004, and on other dates, Fromm provided a Defense Department employee with comments and suggestions regarding the operation of FIRES.
Fromm is cooperating with the government’s investigation.
In announcing today’s guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Taylor, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Persichini, and DCIS Special Agent in Charge Cherrington commended FBI Special Agents Matthew Young and Andrew Mark Benjamin and DCIS Special Agent Ed Cassin. They also commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard Sklamberg, who is prosecuting the case.