Military Songs of War

Wife pleads guilty in alleged Iraq fraud

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — A Marine captain’s wife on Thursday pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge of filing a false income tax return in connection to her alleged role in an Iraq contracting scheme with her husband that reportedly netted them $1.75 million.

Janet Schmidt will return to U.S. District Court in Riverside, Calif., on June 7 to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips, said U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Thom Mrozek.

On March 4, federal prosecutors had charged Janet Schmidt and her husband, Capt. Eric Schmidt, both 39 and of Murrieta, Calif., with two counts of filing a fraudulent tax return and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charges would carry a maximum sentence of 23 years in prison.

Capt. Eric Schmidt, 39, who is assigned to 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, will appear in court at a separate hearing scheduled for April 2.

Attorneys representing the Schmidts had filed separate plea agreements with the court on March 12. U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips sealed both records at the government’s request.

It wasn’t clear whether prosecutors would drop the wire fraud charge against Janet Schmidt in exchange for her guilty plea. Mrozek said he could not comment on details of her plea agreement, which remained sealed.

The tax fraud violation carries a maximum punishment of three years and a $250,000 fine, according to Internal Revenue Service rules.

Federal prosecutors allege the couple skimmed $1.75 million from military contracts he handled while serving as a contracting officer’s representative in Iraq during his yearlong assignment. They claim Eric Schmidt steered contracts toward favored companies while his wife crafted false invoices for inflated contracts on such things as gym equipment for Marines and first aid kits, according to documents filed with the court .

The government already seized $40,000 in cash and two properties, including property at Big Bear resort northeast of Los Angeles, purportedly bought with proceeds of the scheme.

For more on the alleged plot pick up an issue of this week’s Marine Corps Times.

Source:Wife pleads guilty in alleged Iraq fraud

Woman seeks photos of Tenn. Vietnam casualties

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — A White Bluff woman is trying to gather photographs of the more than 1,300 Tennesseans who died in the Vietnam War.

The effort is part of the “Put a Face with a Name” project of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which maintains a virtual memorial wall on its Web site.

The Johnson City Press reports Judy Gorman King approached the paper for help finding the photographs of about 45 people listed as having lived in Washington County.

A recent check of those names on the virtual wall Web site found photographs posted for only four of them. Two were soldiers — Nilon Kay Bacon of Fall Branch and Eugene Delano Franklin of Johnson City — and two were Marines — James David Bowers and Andrew Martin, both of Johnson City.

“I want to make sure nobody slips through the cracks,” King said.

King is a poet who whose visits to the memorial wall in Washington, D.C., have inspired several of her verses. She has a brother who served three tours in Vietnam. He survived.

“I am so thankful for that,” she said.

She has contacted historical societies in each county in the state as well as several newspapers. She has also received help from the veterans group Rolling Thunder. Some have sent photos from high school yearbooks.

King says she can use actual photographs or their digital copies.

King has found photographs for about a third of the Tennesseans who died in Vietnam.

King says she realizes that digging up old photographs can also dig up painful memories for some families, but she believes in the project.

“When I get done I will put copies of all the photos in the Tennessee State Library and Archives,” King said.

Source:Woman seeks photos of Tenn. Vietnam casualties