Executives plead guilty in prison-food bribery case

Court Alerts

[##_1L|1098035181.jpg|width="170" height="128" alt=""|_##]Two executives of a Los Angeles food company pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to bribery charges arising from $532,000 in alleged kickbacks to Fred Monem, Oregon's recently fired prison food buyer. Pleading guilty in federal court in Eugene to bribery and tax fraud, Michael Levin, 52, and William Lawrence, 48, agreed to cooperate with government prosecutors, court papers show.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Cardani said prosecutors would recommend lenient sentences for both men, provided they continued to cooperate. Each man could face as long as 13 years in prison if maximum penalties are imposed.

Government attorneys and Levin and Lawrence agreed in a "statement of facts" document that Monem received $532,000 from L&L Inc., which the two defendants own.

"These payments were meant to influence and reward the (Oregon Department of Corrections) employee, and corruptly ensure future sales of distressed foods by L&L Inc. to ODOC," the document says.

Between July 2004 and January 2007, the Oregon prison system purchased $4.36 million worth of food from the California firm, court papers show.

Related listings

  • Man Pleads Not Guilty In Director Crash

    Man Pleads Not Guilty In Director Crash

    Court Alerts 04/07/2007

    A driver arrested after the crash that killed "A Christmas Story" director Bob Clark and his son pleaded not guilty Friday to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.Prosecutors say Hector Velazquez-Nava, 24, steered his sport-ut...

  • Police arrest mom who forced her kids to panhandle

    Police arrest mom who forced her kids to panhandle

    Court Alerts 04/06/2007

    Police say an unemployed suburban mother of five found a quick way to make ends meet: turning her children into panhandlers. Antoinette Jones, 37, pleaded not guilty to endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, at an arraignment Tuesday in Y...

  • Court dismisses suit to bar use of military fort

    Court dismisses suit to bar use of military fort

    Court Alerts 04/05/2007

    [##_1L|1016764236.jpg|width="130" height="90" alt=""|_##]The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit dismissed a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union to stop the Defense Department from allowing the Boy Scouts of America to hold its Nation...

Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

Business News

New York & New Jersey Family Law Matters We represent our clients in all types of proceedings that include termination of parental rights. >> read