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Press Release

President of Kansas Ladder Company Pleads Guilty to Bribery at Tinker Air Force Base

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Oklahoma

Oklahoma City, OklahomaJEFFREY A. GREEN, 46, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, pled guilty today to offering a bribe to a public official at Tinker Air Force Base, announced Mark A. Yancey, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Green is the president and chief executive officer of LockNClimb, LLC ("LockNClimb"), with headquarters in Independence, Kansas.  LockNClimb manufactures and sells specialty ladder systems.  On July 7, 2016, Green was charged in a one-count Information with offering a bribe to a public official at Tinker Air Force Base ("Tinker").  The information alleged that, on May 10, 2016, Green provided United States currency to a public official at Tinker in exchange for that official’s purchase of ladders for the United States Air Force from LockNClimb. 

At this morning’s plea hearing, Green admitted that he had contact from January through May of 2016 with a public official at Tinker and sold ladders to the official on three occasions.  Green met with the official on May 10, 2016, at a restaurant in Oklahoma City, and gave the official approximately $280 in cash in exchange for the Air Force’s recent purchase of ladders from LockNClimb.  Green further admitted that the cash payment was based on a percentage of LockNClimb’s recent ladder sale to Tinker, and that he had agreed with the Tinker official for LockNClimb to pay the official cash on the side for each ladder that the Air Force purchased from LockNClimb. 

At sentencing, Green faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.  United States District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti will sentence Green in approximately 90 days.  This charge is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Defense Criminal Investigative Service.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris M. Stephens. 

Reference is made to court filings for further information.

Updated August 19, 2016

Topic
Public Corruption