2 Former Drug Dealers Tied to Murtha-Backed Firm

Friday, June 5, 2009 11:24 AM

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., steered millions of dollars in defense work to a campaign donor and the Pentagon went along with it, despite the fact that two convicted drug dealers had been deeply involved with the company.


Records filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh starting in 2005 raise questions about whether the government ever checked into the background of William Kuchera of Windber, Pa., a Murtha constituent who has been doing government work for over 20 years.


The records point to the political peril of Murtha and other members of Congress directing federal funds to particular contractors, an oft-criticized process known as earmarking that has added hundreds of billions of dollars to the defense budget in recent years.


The companies owned by William Kuchera and his brother - Kuchera Defense Systems and Kuchera Industries Inc. - have received $53 million in federal contracts in this decade alone.


According to the court records, Kuchera was convicted of marijuana distribution in 1982 in Wisconsin.


In addition, a man who describes himself as an early partner in Kuchera's business in the 1980s is a convicted cocaine dealer who has served two terms in prison, according to the records.


The early investor in Kuchera Industries Inc., Peter Whorley, is suing Kuchera for a share of the money Kuchera has collected in federal contracts.


In 2007 and 2008, Murtha sponsored $14.7 million in defense earmarks for Kuchera Defense Systems. Before 2007, Congress did not disclose the identities of earmark sponsors, so it is impossible to say how much in earmarked funds Murtha provided to the Kuchera family business.


In one early link to Murtha, Kuchera made a $1,000 campaign contribution to the congressman in March 1992.


Kuchera and his uncle started doing business in the mid-1980s and Murtha became chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee in 1989.


According to the court records, in 1985 William Kuchera approached his uncle, Michael, who was just starting up Kuchera Industries.


William Kuchera "confided to me that he had just spent time in prison and he was looking for a fresh start," Michael Kuchera said in an affidavit filed in federal court in 2005.


"After I agreed to go into business with my nephew, he introduced Peter Whorley to me," Michael Kuchera's affidavit states. "One day shortly after I had met Mr. Whorley, Bill told me that Peter had agreed to invest in the business."


Under questioning in the lawsuit, Whorley said that he had invested $50,000 in the Kucheras' new business. Before that, Whorley said, he had been in prison for drug trafficking.


Whorley said that he and William Kuchera were best friends and that they had been involved in "drug dealings."


A call to William Kuchera's lawyer was not immediately returned.

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