HARTFORD, Conn., Oct. 4 (UPI) -- A contract manager at a U.S. Army base in Kuwait was sentenced in federal court in Connecticut for taking a kickback from a Kuwaiti vendor.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Barry S. Szafran, 49, of Jewett City accepted a round-trip airline ticket between Kuwait and Rhode Island from the vendor, the Hartford Courant reported Monday.
Szafran pleaded guilty previously to taking an illegal gratuity from a foreign supplier and was sentenced to a year of probation, the first four months in home confinement, the newspaper said.
Szafran was the civilian fire alarm manager at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, a government-owned base operated for the U.S. Army by a private contractor.
Prosecutors said in return for his recommendation that the Kuwaiti vendor receive a contract for fire alarm panels, Szafran received and used the airline ticket.
Szafran also provided the Kuwaiti vendor with information resulting in unfair advantages in other competitive bids, prosecutors said.
