WASHINGTON, July 28 /EMWNews/ -- Debra Harrison, a

lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, pleaded guilty today to

honest services wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud the

Coalition Provisional Authority - South Central Region (CPA-SC) in

Al-Hillah, Iraq, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew

Friedrich of the Criminal Division.



    Harrison, 50, of Trenton, N.J., entered her guilty plea today before

the Honorable Mary L. Cooper at the U.S. District Court for the District of

New Jersey, Trenton Division. At the plea hearing, Harrison admitted that

in August 2004 she received a Cadillac Escalade from Philip Bloom, a

contractor at the CPA-SC. The Escalade was financed through a series of

wire transfer payments, which form the basis of the wire fraud charge.

Harrison also admitted that she took more than $300,000 from the CPA-SC

while deployed there and that she used some of the stolen money to make

improvements at her home. Harrison also admitted that in July 2004 she

helped to move unregistered firearms from a hotel in North Carolina to the

home of Robert Stein, a co-conspirator who worked with Harrison at the

CPA-SC.



    Harrison's sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 19, 2008. Harrison faces a

maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a three year term of supervised

release and a fine of $250,000.



    On Jan. 29, 2007, co-conspirator Robert Stein was sentenced to nine

years in prison for related charges of conspiracy, bribery and money

laundering, as well as weapons possession charges, for his role in the same

scheme. Stein was also ordered to forfeit $3.6 million for his role in the

bribery and money laundering scheme.



    On Feb. 16, 2007, co-conspirator Philip Bloom was sentenced to 46

months in prison for related charges of conspiracy, bribery and money

laundering for his role in the scheme. Bloom was also ordered to forfeit

$3.6 million for his role in the bribery and money laundering scheme.



    On June 25, 2007, Lt. Col. Bruce Hopfengardner was sentenced to 21

months in prison for conspiracy and money laundering related to this

scheme. Hopfengardner was also ordered to forfeit $144,500.



    On Feb. 1, 2007, Col. Curtis Whiteford, Lt. Col. Michael Wheeler, and

civilians Seymour Morris, Jr. and William Driver were charged in a 25-count

indictment for related charges including conspiracy, bribery and money

laundering in connection with this scheme. Trial in this case is scheduled

to begin Sept. 9, 2008, in Trenton.



    These cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Ann C. Brickley and

John P. Pearson of the Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section, headed

by Section Chief William M. Welch II. The cases are being investigated by

the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Special Inspector

General for Iraq Reconstruction, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

at the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI-Washington Field Office.