Three sentenced in Oregon prison food-buying scam
Three sentenced in Oregon prison food-buying scam
By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
September 23, 2009, 4:00PM
Three California businessmen were given 12-month sentences today in a bribery scheme that netted $1.2 million dollars for Oregon's former state prison food buyer and his wife.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken sentenced the three men -- Michael Levin, 53, William Lawrence, 51 and Howard Roth, 60 -- to three months in federal prison, nine months of home detention and 1,000 hours of community service.
They are the first businessmen sentenced in the case involving Fred Monem, the former food buyer for the Oregon Department of Corrections suspected of taking kickbacks from five food vendors between 2000 and 2007.
Max Williams, director of the corrections department who attended the sentencing hearing in Eugene, said in a news release, "It is my hope that the sentence handed down today will stand as a warning to the serious consequences of bribing a public official."
Monem is a federal fugitive and is believed to be hiding in his native Iran, where he was once reported to be tending sheep.
"I'm not aware of whether he is still tending sheep in Iran," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Cardani.
The U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with Iran.
Monem's wife, Karen, was sentenced in February to one year in federal prison. Cardani said her surrender date has yet to be determined by the court.
The three defendants sentenced today run a California wholesale food distribution company, Levin & Lawrence, Inc., that paid $532,000 in kickbacks to Monem between 2004 and 2006.
In exchange, they got more than $4.3 million in food contracts with the Oregon Department of Corrections.
The scheme came to light when a disgruntled former employee complained to federal investigators, sparking a search of the company's headquarters in Santa Clarita, Calif, which is north of Los Angeles.
The three men agreed to a deal in April 2007, each pleading guilty to one count of bribery and one count of filing a false income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service.
Since that time, they have collectively paid about $540,000 to the state of Oregon along with $200,000 to California and $750,000 to the IRS to settle tax and civil claims.
They have also taken part in an anti-crime program in Los Angeles, preparing, serving and donating hundreds of thousands of meals to residents.
Cardani said a Maryland businessman, Douglas Levene, has also pleaded guilty in the scheme and is due to be sentenced next month.
