Page 12
The Battalion
Friday, October 7,1988
Justice
Bob Thomas
Chief Justice
OF THE 10th COURT OF APPEALS
...experience is the difference.
Pol. adv. pd. by Comm, to Elect Judge Bob Thomas Chief Justice
Karl May, Treas., 5400 Bosoue, Waco, Tx. 76710.
Dillard's is
Sally Raye Brown
Conspirators indicted
in mail machinery scam
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Texas
company and two of its executives were
accused Thursday of conspiring with a
former Postal Service governor to rig the
award of $400 million in contracts for
automated mail-sorting equipment.
The indictment charged Recognition
Equipment Inc. of Irving. Texas; RETs
chairman, William G. Moore Jr.; and
Robert W. Reedy, a vice president, with
participating in an elaborate scheme that
included the replacement of Paul N. Car
lin as postmaster general with Albert V.
Casey in 1986.
The indictment said the two exec
utives conspired with Peter E. Voss, then
vice chairman of the Postal Service
board of governors, and others to manip
ulate bid procedures, obtain confidential
information about competitors and re
place Carlin, considered an obstacle to
REI winning contracts.
Voss received $19,000 in kickbacks
from a Detroit-area public relations firm
headed by John R. Gnau Jr. that REI
hired on his recommendation, the gov
ernment said. Voss also was promised
one-quarter of one percent of any reve
nues REI earned from Postal Service
contracts, it said.
The indictment charged that the con
spirators, including Voss, arranged for
the Postal Service in 1985 to halt procur
ement of a multi-line optical character
reader system and set up a two-step test
period advantageous to REI.
The contract was never awarded but it
would have been worth $8 billion over
10 years, according to court papers filed
earlier in the investigation.
Voss, who headed President Reagan's
1980 Ohio presidential campaign, was
named as an unindicted co-conspirator.
He received a four-year prison term in
1986 for his guilty plea to contract kick-
back and expense account fraud charges.
Gnau. another unindicted co-conspira-
tor who headed Reagan’s 1980 Michigan
campaign, is serving a three-year sen
tence for conspiracy and paying an ille
gal $2,500 gratuity to Voss. He agreed to
cooperate with the investigation.
In sentencing memos filed in the ear
lier cases, prosecutors estimated that the
bid-rigging activities of Voss and Gnau
and subsequent investigations, forced the
Postal Service to delay automation by at
least two years at a cost of hundreds of
millions of dollars.
The indictment charged REI. Moore.
49, and Reedy, 46, both of Dallas, with
conspiracy to defraud the government,
theft of Postal Service property, mail and
wire fraud and aiding and abetting.
Moore and Reedy each face maximum
possible prison terms of 33 years and
fines of more than $1.5 million if con
victed. The company could be fined
more than $3 million if convicted.
REI spokeswoman Jenny Barker said.
“Neither the company nor Mr. Moore
nor Mr. Reedy have done anything
wrong. We do not believe the indictment
should have been brought by the U.S. at
torney .
“The company, Mr. Moore and Mr.
Reedy intend to defend this matter to the
fullest extent. We are confident we will
be exonerated,” she said.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Jay B.
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Kidnap
pers holding two American captives
threatened their safety Thursday if inter
national interference in Lebanon's politi
cal crisis continues.
The warning came in a typewritten
statement in Arabic from the Revolution
ary Justice Organization. The statement
was delivered to the Beirut independent
newspaper An-Nahar along with a Polar
oid picture of U.S. hostage Joseph James
Cicippio.
“We shall use all the cards to thwart
these conspiracies, including the card of
the safety of the hostages, which we
shall make the backbone of our con
frontation,” the statement said.
The photograph showed Cicippio
wearing a red and navy blue top. Cicip
pio, 58, of Valley Forge, Penn., was act
ing comptroller at the American Univer
sity of Beirut when he was kidnapped on
the school’s campus Sept. 12, 1986.
Revolutionary Justice, believed linked
to Iran, also claims to hold Edward Aus
tin Tracy, 57, of Burlington, Vt., an au
thor, who was kidnapped Oct. 21, 1986
in Moslem west Beirut.
Stevens said; “Public corruption is one
of democracy’s worst enemies. This in
dictment represents our commitment to
prosecute aggressively and vigorously
those who seek to strike at the heart of
fairness in the procurement process by
corrupting the machinery of government
for personal financial gain.”
According to the indictment, William
A. Spartin, president of Gnau & Asso
ciates, who also headed an executive
placement firm, influenced the selection
of a new postmaster by obtaining man
agement consulting contracts with the
Postal Service.
Spartin, also named an unindicted co
conspirator. used his position to insin
uate himself into the confidence of high-
level USPS and board officials but con
cealed his relationship to Voss, Gnau
and REI.
There are 16 hostages, including nine
Americans, held hostage in Beirut. The
hostage held longest is Terry Anderson,
chief Middle East correspondent for the
Associated Press. He was kidnapped
March 16. 1985.
Hostage Mithileshwar Singh, an In
dian citizen and resident U.S. alien, was
freed from captivity Monday after being
held 20 months in Lebanon. He was un
dergoing medical examinations in Wies
baden. West Germany.
A U.S. official in Wiesbaden said
Thursday that Singh said he and three
Americans held captive with him were
frequently moved by abductors to thwart
efforts to locate them.
The official, who is close to the U.S.
State Department team debriefing Singh,
said the team is also getting "a lot of raw.
information” from him that could be
helpful in learning about Americans in
Lebanon. He spoke on condition of ano
nymity.
The three Americans held with Singh
were Jesse Turner, 41. a native of Boise.
Idaho; Alann Steen. 49, of Boston; and
Robert Polhill, 54, of New York City.
Captors threaten lives
of American hostages
Nuclear plami
releases gas
after accidenl
AIKEN, S.C. (AP) — The day if.
ter an Energy Department draft refer
sharply criticized Savannah Rivj
Plant management, the nuclear fj.
eility suffered an equipmenl failtj
that led to a release of radioactive id
tium gas.
The escape of less than .01 mil
rems of the gas into the atmospfe
Thursday morning posed nothrcaiu
health, plant spokesman BeckyCrd
said. Workers at the plant, ther*
lion’s only producer of weapon
grade plutonium and tritium, k®
not evacuated.
“The tritium . . . was released#
the atmosphere from the facility
stack,” a statement issued by 4
plant's management said. "Theactv
dental release occurred as the resit
of equipment failure during rotitis
operations inside the Tritium Ft-
eility.”
A millirem is a measure of nfe
tion; a routine chest X-ray to
about 20 millirems, according
Craft.
The draft report criticized the h
ergy Department and its primec*.
tractor at the plant. Du Pont,
staff training, poor communication
and sloppy operating procedureta
have undermined safety.
The 50-page repon madeatios
recommendations, includingstepprt
up oversight so problems can It
caught before they become senom
In Washington, four senaim
Thursday asked an independently
mittcc to review safety and operates
at the plant in the wake of disclos*
that as many as 30 major mist?
over 30 years had not been repond
to Energy Department hcadtjuin;
or made public.
The New York Times on Thuni
reported that a study by aconstia
firm of the plant's operations fei
1971-1987 showed that eta
equipment failure and poor opera
procedures caused nuclear reactor
shut down unexpectedly nine to I
times a year for nearly two decade
That rate is twice that of thee;
ian nuclear power industry, ni
Richard W. Starostccki. the Era
Department's chief safetyop
(
c
ami
to s
: Mat
or
i
pleased to announce the TAMU
Fran Traywick
COLLEGE ADVISORY BOARD
Kristi Krovontka
Juliana Phillips
Julie Ann Anglum
Lori Stanley
Joel Trevino
Julie Ann Templin
The Dillard's College Advisory board has been formed with the
intention of developing a direct communication link with the Texas
A&M University student body. Our goal is to better serve the student
populous and relate merchandise trends to their specific needs.
Participants serve on a rotating semester basis, attending monthly
roundtable discussion luncheons, working in the store and initiating
special projects on campus.
Dillard's recognizes these outstanding students as they were chosen
from many qualified applicants. They excel in academia and are active
in honorary and service organizations.
We look forward to their insights and ideas in this mutually beneficial
relationship.
Sue Holton
Michael Aspinall
SHOP DILLARD S MONDAY THRU SATURDAY 10-9, SUNDAY 12-6; POST OAK MALL. HARVEY ROAD AT HIGHWAY 6 BYPASS, COLLEGE STATION 764-OOH.
AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD WELCOME.
Dillard