The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced today that charges have been filed in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg against Timothy H. Albright, age 37, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, charging him with conspiracy to receive bribes while serving in the United States Army at Bagram, Afghanistan.

According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, the criminal information alleges that Albright, a Specialist with the Pennsylvania National Guard, was assigned to the 53rd Joint Movement Control Battalion, 101st Joint Logistics Command, Combined Joint Task Force, with duties at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan (Bagram). He served as an E4 (Enlisted Grade 4) in the United States Army at Bagram between January 7, 2008 and October 20, 2008. In his position at Bagram, Albright, who served as a Commercial Vendor Services Specialist, processed invoices resulting from the provision of supplies by Afghan vendors to restock supplies at the Humanitarian Aid Yard at Bagram. Albright was responsible for reviewing invoices submitted by Afghan vendors who had been awarded contracts to replenish the Humanitarian Aid Yard. If the documents were in order, Albright would date-stamp and submit them for payment.

An Afghan vendor had several million-dollar contracts through his company with the Humanitarian Aid Yard through the Army. He began to give cash to Albright as a way of thanking him for expeditiously processing his invoices. As the relationship developed, so did the size of the amounts of cash from the vendor. Ultimately, the criminal information charges, Albright received at least $25,000 in cash bribes from the Afghan vendor.

Albright sent the money he received from the Afghan vendor to his home in Lebanon. He concealed the money in envelopes inserted in boxes filled with DVDs. Also, according to the Information, Albright told his supervisor at Bagram about the payments and encouraged him to participate in the scheme. The supervisor did so, and Albright and his supervisor would split up stacks of $100 bills provided by the vendor.

The case was investigated by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, United States Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Air Force Office of Special Investigation. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod and Trial Attorney Daniel Butler of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

In this case, the maximum penalty under the federal statute is five years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine up to $250,000. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.