OKLAHOMA CITY – A former Army training manager pleaded guilty in Western District federal court here to accepting a bribe as a public official.
A federal grand jury returned a 12-count indictment May 3 against Alfred Palma, 64, of Duncan, and co-defendant Candy Hanza, 50, of Lawton. Both were charged with bribery, and Hanza also is accused of wire fraud and money laundering.
Palma, a U.S. Army employee, was the manager of the Institutional Training Directed Lodging and Meals program at Fort Sill, through which he booked hotel rooms for soldiers who attended on-post training.
The indictment alleged that Hanza, then the general manager of a hotel in Lawton, paid Palma to direct soldiers to the hotel. Hanza then personally profited through her own scheme to defraud the hotel owners and laundered the resulting proceeds, the indictment alleges.
At a hearing before U.S. District Judge Patrick R. Wyrick, Palma admitted he received cash and checks totaling $103,200 from Hanza in return for favoring the hotel at which Hanza was a general manager.
Palma further admitted he used the cash to purchase money orders from Walmart in $1,000 increments, which he then deposited, along with the checks from Hanza, into his personal checking account.
At sentencing, Palma faces up to 15 years in federal prison, a fine of $250,000 or three times the monetary value of the bribes, and up to three years of supervised release.
Hanza has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division and the Department of Defense Contract Audit Agency.