Army Lt. Col. Sentenced to Jail for Contract Bribe & Money Laundering in Afghanistan

An Army Reserve lieutenant colonel was sentenced to 3½ years in federal prison June 13 after pleading guilty to charges in connection with pocketing more than $9 million from a contract to train Afghan troops, according to the Justice Department. David Young, 51, of Hernando Beach, Florida, will begin serving his sentence Aug. 4.

According to a plea agreement, Young has agreed to forfeit more than $1.6 million that the government seized from eight bank accounts; 16 pieces of property in New Hampshire and Florida; money from the sale of a Hummer and a boat; a Jaguar; 225 1-ounce American Eagle gold coins; and 175 1-ounce South African gold Krugerrand coins.

Neither Young nor his attorney could immediately be reached for comment. Young is listed as Inactive Ready Reserve, according to Virginia Keys, a spokeswoman for the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, which was among the agencies investigating the case. Keys said Young was a Special Forces lieutenant colonel while on active duty.

Young pleaded guilty in December to disclosure of procurement information and money laundering in connection with a military contract for services in Afghanistan. U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell, in Salt Lake City, sentenced Young to 42 months in prison, followed by 36 months on supervised release.

Between March and June of 2007, Young was deployed to Afghanistan with the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force as an official liaison for Afghan National Security Force Partnering.

During his deployment, while he was involved in the transfer of greater responsibility for Afghanistan’s national security to the Afghans, a decision was made to solicit a pilot contract to train Afghan forces in weapons maintenance and property book management.

Young admitted to federal prosecutors that he had confidential bid, proposal and source selection information concerning the pilot contract and that he disclosed information to two officials of American International Security Corp., which eventually won the contract.

Another defendant in the case, Christopher Harris, who worked as the country manager in Afghanistan for AISC, received more than $17 million during the life of the contract. Harris, 49, of Lake Havasu, Arizona, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit government procurement fraud and money laundering and is scheduled to be sentenced June 23, according to an announcement of Young’s sentencing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Utah, which prosecuted the case.

“Conduct like we see in this case undermines the confidence of American taxpayers who continue to pay for the cost of our efforts in Afghanistan,” said David B. Barlow, U.S. attorney for the Utah District, in an announcement of the sentencing.

“Young held a position of trust with the United States Army and violated his ethical duties as a soldier. He knew full well that he could not ethically use or disclose the protected information as he did,” Barlow said.

Other investigators in the case were the Army Criminal Investigation Command’s major procurement fraud unit, Defense Criminal Investigative Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.