ASFT Senior VP Pleads Guilty to Bribery As Kickback Investigation Continues

The senior vice president who oversaw millions of dollars in defense contracts at the now defunct Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow (ASFT) in Middletown is the latest to plead guilty in connection with the federal case.

Patrick B. Nagle, 51, of Marietta, GA., on Tuesday entered a guilty plea to a bribery charge before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi, according to Projo.com. His sentencing is scheduled for March 1, 2012 and he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the report stated. Nagle's role in the scheme spanned nearly a decade, prosecutors had alleged.

Nagle is the fourth defendant charged in connection with the bribery and kickback investigation involving ASFT, which had maintained offices in Middletown and in Roswell, GA. The company closed abruptly in February, resulting in the layoffs of approximately 100 local employees, after the federal government seized company assets as part of the investigation.

Funds skimmed off defense contracts allegedly were diverted to payoffs made to , a civilian program manager and senior systems engineer with the United States Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Newport and Washington, D.C., as well as individuals associated with Mariano.

Mariano, the only defendant to plead not guilty in the case, was among the first to be charged in the investigation. Mariano and ASFT founder and former president , of Roswell, GA, were both charged in a criminal complaint in February 2010 in connection with the alleged kickback scheme, in which Dutta-Gupta allegedly funneled millions to Mariano, Mariano’s relatives, and Mariano’s associates in return for Mariano’s role in the funding of Naval contracts to ASFT, according to those criminal complaint filings.

Dutta-Gupta pleaded guilty in April 2011 in federal court to one count of bribery of a public official and awaits sentencing scheduled for Dec. 9.

On June 17, Russell Spencer of Portsmouth also pleaded guilty to one felonious count of conspiracy to commit bribery as part of the ongoing investigation. Spencer allegedly served as a consultant, who formed three companies that received millions of dollars from Navy contracts. 

The ASFT case has since sparked a nationwide probe into the U.S. Navy's handling and procedures involving defense industry contracts. As a result, the federal government also has stripped contracting authority away from the Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Newport.