Former defense exec will plead guilty

WASHINGTON, July 8 (UPI) -- A former defense executive with ties to U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., has agreed to plead guilty to bribery charges, court records show.

Richard Ianieri, the former president of Coherent Systems International, is accused of taking $200,000 in bribes from officials at a firm his company hired as a subcontractor for a high-tech military project, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Court filings identify the company that reportedly paid Ianieri only as "K".

The Post says "K" could be Kuchera Defense Systems, a subcontractor to Coherent based in Murtha's Pennsylvania congressional district.

Murtha, who chairs the powerful House Appropriations subcommittee on military spending, says the fraud allegations surrounding Kuchera have nothing to do with him.

"What do you think, I'm supposed to oversee these companies?" Murtha said. "That's not my job. That's the Defense Department's job."

In January, FBI and Defense Department investigators raided Kuchera's corporate offices and the homes of its two top executives.