The founder of a U.S. Navy contractor from Georgia must serve three years in prison for his part in a kickback scheme that cost the Navy $18 million, a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered Wednesday.
Anjan Dutta-Gupta, of Roswell, Ga., founder of Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow, or ASFT, is the fourth person to be sentenced in a federal probe into a 15-year scheme led by former civilian Navy employee Ralph M. Mariano. Dutta-Gupta pleaded guilty in 2011 to bribery and was not sentenced until Wednesday while he cooperated with the investigation.
The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi matched the recommendation of both prosecutors and the defense, who said Dutta-Gupta’s extensive cooperation almost immediately after he was charged meant he should be shown some leniency. Otherwise, he could have faced as much as 15 years in prison.
Mariano worked for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I., and was most recently based at the Navy Yard in Washington. He had the power to approve payments on Navy contracts and used it to sign off on false invoices submitted by ASFT and subcontractors, which would then funnel kickbacks to Mariano and others. ASFT, which also had offices in Middletown, R.I., went under soon after the charges were brought.
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