National Legal and Policy Center Reacts to Sentencing of Former Boeing CFO Sears

National Legal and Policy Center Reacts to Sentencing of Former Boeing CFO Sears; Ethics Group Broke Tanker Deal Scandal

2/18/2005 2:44:00 PM

To: National Desk

Contact: Ken Boehm or Peter Flaherty, 703-237-1970, both of the National Legal and Policy Center, Web: http://www.nlpc.org

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Former Boeing Chief Financial Officer Michael Sears was sentenced to four months in prison today by U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Lee for his role in the conspiracy to violate federal conflict of interest laws. Sears had pleaded guilty to conspiring with Air Force official Darleen Druyun to hire her while she was still handling Boeing military contracts for the government.

Druyun's potential conflict of interest with Boeing was first exposed in October 2003 when the ethics watchdog group National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) filed a complaint with the Defense Department Inspector General questioning Druyun's ties to Boeing including the hiring of her daughter by Boeing, and the sale of her home to a Boeing official. The NLPC complaint was cited in a front-page Wall Street Journal article and a month later Boeing fired both Druyun and Sears. One week after the firings, Boeing CEO Phil Condit resigned.

NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm, who attended the sentencing today, reacted, "The Boeing scandal is far from over. While Druyun is in prison and Sears will soon be in prison, the news earlier this week that the Defense Department had found four more questionable Boeing contracts linked to Druyun indicates that there is much more to investigate."

Boehm continued, "U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty stated today that the government's plea agreements with both Sears and Druyun require their continued cooperation with investigators. That is good news for the taxpayer and bad news for Boeing. Every time Boeing claims the scandal as over, new revelations are made of tainted procurement contracts."

Druyun was sentenced to nine months in prison last Oct. 1. In addition to the four month prison term, Sears was fined $250,000 and required to do 200 hours of community service.

NLPC promotes ethics in public life and sponsors the Corporate Integrity Project. A copy of NLPC's October 2003 letter to the Defense Department Inspector General is available at http://www.nlpc.org.

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