HARRISBURG, Pa.–A Pennsylvania National Guard soldier was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to 12 months in prison for conspiracy to receive bribes from vendors seeking contracts while he was assigned to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, federal prosecutors said.
Timothy H. Albright, 37, of Lebanon, plead guilty to the charges in March 2015. In addition to his sentence, Albright was also ordered to forfeit $16,000.
According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, Albright, a Specialist with the Pennsylvania National Guard, was assigned to the 53rd Joint Movement Control Battalion, 101st Joint Logistics Command, Combined Joint Task Force, with duties at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan (Bagram). He served as an E4 (Enlisted Grade 4) in the United States Army at Bagram between January 7, 2008 and October 20, 2008. In his position at Bagram, Albright, who served as a Commercial Vendor Services Specialist, processed invoices resulting from the provision of supplies by Afghan vendors to restock supplies at the Humanitarian Aid Yard at Bagram. Albright was responsible for reviewing invoices submitted by Afghan vendors who had been awarded contracts to replenish the Humanitarian Aid Yard. If the documents were in order, Albright would date-stamp and submit them for payment.
An Afghan vendor had several million-dollar contracts through his company with the Humanitarian Aid Yard through the Army. He began to give cash to Albright as a way of thanking him for expeditiously processing his invoices. As the relationship developed, so did the size of the amounts of cash from the vendor. Ultimately, Albright received approximately $25,000 in cash bribes from the Afghan vendor.
Albright sent the money he received from the Afghan vendor to his home in Lebanon. He concealed the money in envelopes inserted in boxes filled with DVDs. Also, Albright told his supervisor at Bagram about the payments and encouraged him to participate in the scheme.
The supervisor did so, and Albright and his supervisor would split up stacks of $100 bills provided by the vendor.
