Vehicles of Guilty Marine Seized

[unhappycamper]

Vehicles of Guilty Marine Seized
July 06, 2010
The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.

The ex-wife of a Camp Lejeune Marine convicted last month of taking $500,000 or more in bribes from contractors while he was stationed in Iraq in 2005 said his wrongdoing has affected her and other family living in the area.

Department of Justice officials for North Carolina's Eastern District seized a 2004 BMW 325i, 1998 Mercedes Benz CLK320, 2003 Ford Excursion and 2008 Mitsubishi Eclipse from Master Sgt. Terence Walton last week on belief that the vehicles were purchased with proceeds from a bribery scheme, according to affidavits.

Walton, a contracting specialist with Lejeune's 2nd Supply Battalion, deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, from Feb. 2005 to Jan. 2006, assigned to award and manage contracts for the country's Al Anbar Province. In his time deployed to the region, Walton awarded 1,371 contract to 397 vendors, for a total of more than $3.7 million, according to documents reviewed by the Daily News.

According to affidavits and warrants filed June 24, an unidentified source became suspicious of Walton when his spending habits changed radically upon his return to Camp Lejeune in 2006. Walton spent at least $70,000 in 2006, on among other items vehicles, electronics and household supplies, and had a box inscribed in Arabic containing $30,000 in his Jacksonville home, records state.

A Marine gunnery sergeant, Gloria Jones, identified as having an extra-marital relationship with Walton, testified that he had received at least $500,000 in bribes from contractors. Jones pleaded guilty to receiving $15,000 in cash from him in 2005.