FBI raids contractor with Murtha link

JOHNSTOWN, Pa., Jan. 22 (UPI) -- FBI agents Thursday raided the Pennsylvania offices of a defense contractor that has received millions of dollars in contracts through Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.

Agents carried out the raid in Windber, Pa., at the offices of Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense Systems, The (Johnstown, Pa.) Tribune-Democrat reported. A company official, Ron Kuchera, confirmed that the FBI was at the contractor's offices and that the companies had sent employees home for the day.

State police and federal agents, apparently from the Internal Revenue Service, guarded the entrance to the site, the newspaper said. It was believed another location was also raided Thursday morning, the report said.

Kuchera received $8.2 million in defense earmarks, at Murtha's request, in the 2008 federal budget, The Hill reported in Washington. A spokesman for Murtha refused comment.

Citing Federal Election Commission records, The Hill said top officials at Kuchera contributed more than $100,000 to both Democratic and Republican political campaigns during the past decade, with the majority of the donations -- more than $56,000 -- going to Murtha. Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., also received contributions from the company, as did Reps. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and David Hobson, R-Ohio.

Kuchera, which employs an estimated 250 people, has defense contracts that could total more than $100 million in a 10-year period, The Hill said.