Contractor Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Death of Afghan National in Kabul, Afghanistan

WASHINGTON – Justin Cannon, 29, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for his role in shooting and killing an Afghan national while on an unauthorized convoy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 5, 2009, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.   U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar also ordered Cannon to serve two years of supervised release following his prison term.

On March 11, 2011, Cannon and Christopher Drotleff, 31, of Virginia Beach, Va., were convicted of involuntary manslaughter while working as contractors for the U.S. Department of Defense in Afghanistan.  Cannon and Drotleff were acquitted of other charges, including second-degree murder, assault resulting in serious bodily injury and firearms offenses.  On June 14, 2011, Drotleff was sentenced to 37 months in prison.

“Justin Cannon was hired to support the Defense Department mission in Afghanistan,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.  “Instead, he recklessly fired on a civilian car, killing an Afghan national.  He dishonored the American military, the Afghan people, and the many men and women in uniform who serve this country honorably.   Today’s sentence brings some measure of justice to an otherwise tragic situation.”

“Justin Cannon opened fire with an AK-47 at the rear of a retreating vehicle and took the life of an innocent Afghan,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “While Mr. Cannon was in Afghanistan to support to U.S. troops, his incredibly reckless behavior instead undermined our military mission and weakened the bond of trust with the Afghans.  Those serving overseas – even in dangerous places like Afghanistan – must follow the law and not make up their own rules.  Today’s sentence makes clear that those who break the law will be held accountable, regardless of where their crimes occur.”

Cannon and Drotleff were charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) in a superseding indictment filed on Aug. 5, 2010.  Cannon and Drotleff were Department of Defense contractors employed by a subsidiary of Xe (formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide).  

According to evidence presented at trial, on May 5, 2009, both men left their military base without authorization to transport local interpreters.  The evidence at trial established that, after the lead vehicle in the convoy crashed and was overturned on the side of the road, Cannon and Drotleff fired multiple shots into the back of a civilian car that had attempted to pass the accident scene. The passenger of the car was fatally shot and the driver was seriously injured.  An individual who happened to be walking his dog in the area was also killed in the shooting.  The jury found the defendants guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the death of Romal Mohammad Naiem, the front-seat passenger.  They were acquitted of charges relating to the death of the person walking his dog and injuries to the driver.

According to court records, as contractors, Cannon and Drotleff provided training to the Afghan National Army for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the use and maintenance of weapons and weapons systems. 

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Robert McGovern of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Randy C. Stoker and Alan M. Salsbury from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia - Norfolk Division.  The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command.

Mission Afghanistan: Contract Corruption

Part 3: Holding Americans Accountable in a War Zone

The meeting took place at the Serena hotel in Kabul. The senior construction manager made it clear he needed $190,000 in cash to award a U.S.-funded contract to build a school and a hospital in Afghanistan. He didn’t realize that the “subcontractor” he was talking to was really one of our undercover agents and that his bribe demand—including the acceptance of a $10,000 good-faith payment—was being recorded on a hidden camera.

This recent case is one of many investigated by the International Contract Corruption Task Force (ICCTF), whose mission is to go after Americans and others overseas who steal U.S. dollars flowing into the war zone.

Since Operation Enduring Freedom began in 2002, the U.S. has spent over $770 billion on private contractors who support the military and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait. With that much money at stake, fraud and corruption are inevitable.

“Most Americans come here to help the people of Afghanistan and believe in the mission,” said Special Agent Derek Boucher, who recently completed a yearlong deployment in Kabul working with the ICCTF. “But some of them are taking advantage, and our job is to bring them to justice.”

The task force focuses on Americans and other non-Afghans who commit these crimes. “We're not investigating Afghans,” Boucher said. “That’s the job of the Major Crimes Task Force.”

The ICCTF was established in 2006 by a group of U.S. law enforcement agencies and military investigators (see sidebar) not only to combat the serious problem of contract corruption in the war zone but to build cases that can be prosecuted in U.S. courts.

The crimes take a variety of forms, including stealing government property such as fuel or other supplies or demanding bribes and kickbacks. A common scheme—like the case above—involves an individual who works for a company that awards U.S. contracts to Afghan construction firms to build roads, hospitals, and schools. The individual might guarantee a $15 million contract to an Afghan subcontractor in return for 10 percent of the contract amount.

If the payoff occurs, the money lost to fraud could mean that the construction project does not get completed or that it’s completed in a substandard way. It might also mean that Afghan subcontractors don’t get paid. “The consequences are real,” Boucher said.

ICCTF investigators in Afghanistan rely on tips from the public—similar to how FBI agents may be alerted to fraud at home. But working these cases in a war zone has its own challenges. “The most basic investigative technique is conducting an interview,” Boucher said. “Back in the States I go to the person's house or call them into our office. Here, for example, I can't go to an Afghan's house because it might not be safe.”

Still, the ICCTF has been successful. Since 2004, the task force has initiated nearly 700 investigations. There are currently more than 100 cases pending in Afghanistan, and since 2007, 37 people have been charged with crimes committed there, and all but one have been convicted, have pled guilty, or are awaiting trial.

“The work the ICCTF is doing is important,” Boucher said. “We need to send a message that U.S. taxpayer dollars are going to the Afghan people and not into the pockets of corrupt Americans. Anyone contemplating these types of crimes should know there is no safe haven for them, no matter how far away from home they are.”

About the ICCTF

The ICCTF was created to investigate international fraud against the U.S. government and corrupt U.S. public officials whose crimes occur outside the country. In addition to the FBI, its members include:

- Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction;

- Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service;

- Army Criminal Investigation Command;

- Department of State Office of Inspector General;

- U.S. Agency for International Development Office of Inspector General;

- Air Force Office of Special Investigations;

- Naval Criminal Investigative Service; and

- Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

To support ICCTF agents operating overseas, the FBI participates in a Joint Operations Center at our Washington, D.C. Headquarters, where interagency cases, along with intelligence and analysis, are coordinated.

Next: Afghan biometrics program--a measure of progress

Contractor Pleads Guilty to Assault in Relation to Stabbing at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON—A U.S. Army contractor pleaded guilty to assault today in relation to stabbing another individual with a knife at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia, and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

Sean T. Brehm, 44, of Capetown, South Africa, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga to assault resulting in serious bodily injury. At sentencing, scheduled for July 8, 2011, Brehm faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

According to court documents, the stabbing took place on Nov. 25, 2010. At the time of the stabbing, Brehm was working as a contractor for DynCorp International LLC, a U.S. Army contractor in Afghanistan. According to court documents, the stabbing resulted in serious bodily injury to the victim and the victim underwent emergency surgery immediately following the incident.

The defendant was charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), a statute that gives U.S. courts jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed outside the United States by, among others, contractors or subcontractors of the Department of Defense.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney James S. Yoon of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald L. Walutes Jr. for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division and the International Security Assistance Force Military Police conducted the military investigation. The Office of Military Justice for Regional Command - South and 10th Mountain Division, and the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate for Regional Command - South provided invaluable assistance.

Contractor Charged with Assault in Relation to Stabbing at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON – A U.S. Army contractor was indicted today for stabbing another individual with a knife at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

The indictment, returned today by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia, charges Sean T. Brehm, 44, of Western Cape, South Africa, with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm and without just cause or excuse, and one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

According to the indictment, the stabbing took place on Nov. 25, 2010. The indictment alleges that at the time of the stabbing, Brehm was working as a contractor for DynCorp International LLC, a U.S. Army contractor in Afghanistan. Brehm originally was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., on Dec. 9, 2010.  U.S. Magistrate Judge Ivan D. Davis ruled on Dec. 10, 2010, that Brehm be removed to the United States, and he arrived on Dec. 21, 2010, at Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm and without just cause or excuse, and 10 years in prison for assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

The defendant is charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), a statute that gives U.S. courts jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed outside the United States by, among others, contractors or subcontractors of the Department of Defense.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney James S. Yoon of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald L. Walutes Jr., for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance. The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

An indictment is merely a formal accusation. It is not proof of guilt, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Iraqi Contractor Sees Hope Become Reality

By Norris Jones
Special to American Forces Press Service

Nov. 16, 2007 - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing 541 projects valued at $2 billion in a variety of areas in Iraq, including renovating hospitals and schools, installing new water and sewer lines, electrical generation, new water and wastewater treatment plants, bridges and road paving. In the past three years, more than 3,700 projects, valued at $5.6 billion, have been completed.

Namir El Akabi, chief executive officer of ALMCO Group, which has 6,500 Iraqis on its payroll, said his firm has been involved with both new construction and refurbishment.

"We're the largest Iraqi-owned company doing this kind of work. We have completed about 80 projects, both small and large. The U.S.-funded projects have been the main engine for employment within Iraq. This work has allowed Iraq to survive, because without these strategic projects things would have been much worse. It would have been a complete disaster."

His firm has been working for three years on the $50 million R3 water treatment plant in eastern Baghdad, which will provide 25 million gallons daily of potable water. "Water is the essence of life. We'll finish that project in January, and its impact on Sadr City's standard of living will be dramatic," Akabi said.

Akabi said he is proud to point out that his workers are being paid some of the highest salaries in Iraq. "The secret to our success is honesty in execution, quality production, and looking after our Iraqi employees," he said. He noted that at the conclusion of every project, 20 percent of the profits are distributed to his Iraqi crew. "That helps with motivation. They know they are part of the company. And that's why we have been able to execute so many projects in such a short time," he said. "I look after our Iraqi employees, and they produce."

Akabi grew up in Iraq and left at age 10. He returned to Baghdad in 2003 and started his company with five employees. "It was a dream of mine to come back," he said.

He noted that most Middle Eastern countries don't have the natural resources his homeland possesses. "They don't have water; they don't have oil; they don't have minerals. Iraq has everything."

He added that he hopes that someday soon, Iraq will become the next Dubai, which is prosperous and secure. He said he's often asked when Iraq will be secure and safe. He said he answers, "I don't know. But we have to keep going. We have to keep going down that road to rebuild Iraq, to establish democracy and freedom. Things have improved tremendously."

He pointed out that last year his company had a terrorist incident every week -- an attack on one of its convoys or at a project site, or the kidnapping of an employee. "For the past two months, I don't remember one incident where a fatality happened," he said. "The Iraqi people are fed up with all this blood, all this terrorism, all these people coming from the outside and dictating how we should think, what is right and what is wrong. The Iraqis are an intelligent people by nature, and the minority have been misguided, misguided by other countries and by other ideologies such as al Qaeda, which is wrong by any standard."

He said that people today, for the most part, can go about their normal life activities. "I'm optimistic. During the last three or four months, I've seen changes. In 2006, when things got really bad, we were all very depressed. We couldn't see hope. But we had to keep telling ourselves there is hope. Now I actually see hope. I can see it with my eyes; I can feel it. Today, hope is becoming a reality."

(Norris Jones works for the Gulf Region Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.)