Ex-NASA official to plead guilty in contracts case [AP]

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Courtney Stadd, former NASA chief of staff. Credit: Photo by Jill DiPasquale Enlarge Image

Former NASA chief of staff Courtney Stadd is scheduled to appear Aug. 18 before a federal judge in Gulfport, Miss., where he is expected to plead guilty in a case stemming from a $600,000 remote-sensing study contract awarded to Mississippi State University, the Associated Press reported, citing court documents

Stadd, 55, was convicted in 2009 of breaking ethics laws in steering nearly $10 million in NASA funds to Mississippi State —  a consulting client — when the former chief of staff returned to NASA in mid-2005 for a two-month stint as a special government employee to help incoming NASA Administrator Mike Griffin reorganize the agency.

Federal prosecutors announced a new, nine-count indictment against Stadd in January that included allegations that he conspired with another former NASA official, Liam Sarsfield,  to steer $450,000 through Mississippi State University to his consulting firm, Capitol Solutions, and submitted invoices for work he did not perform. Stadd entered a plea of not guilty in Gulfport Jan. 11.

According to the AP, the court documents didn't indicate to which charges he would plead guilty during his Aug. 18 court appearance.

 

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