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Darleen Druyun, the former Air Force acquisition executive who steered contracts to Boeing in exchange for a lucrative job, began serving a nine-month sentence in a federal prison on Monday.

Druyun, 57, was sentenced last fall after violating federal conflict of interest laws by negotiating a $250,000-a-year job with Boeing, the Pentagon's second largest contractor, while managing the Air Force's federal contracts. Druyun admitted to favoring Boeing in at least four separate contract negotiations, in exchange for jobs for her daughter and son-in-law.

Druyun will serve her sentence at a minimum-security prison in Marianna, Fla., located about 60 miles from Tallahassee. After serving nine months there, she must spend another seven months in a halfway house or under home detention.

The incarceration represents a spectacular fall for the one of most powerful career officials in the Pentagon. Druyun oversaw tens of billions of dollars in weapons contracts for a decade. She retired from the Air Force in late 2002 and almost immediately went to work for Boeing managing missile defense contracts. She was fired within a year, after ethics concerns arose.

The Defense Department is now reviewing all contracts that Druyun oversaw or awarded from 1993 until she retired for any signs of fraud.

Meanwhile, Boeing CEO Phil Condit resigned a week after Druyun was fired, and Boeing Chief Financial Officer Michael Sears will be sentenced to up to six months in jail in federal court in February for secretly negotiating to hire Druyun.

Also, Air Force Secretary James Roche and Air Force Assistant Secretary for acquisition Marvin Sambur have announced they will leave the Pentagon at the end this month, in part as a result of the Druyun scandal.

COMMENTS

• We have young men dying daily in Iraq while scum like these walk away with promotions and fat pay raises, yet none of them ever seem to know anything that goes on. Congress and the upper echelons are no better. They continue to fatten their pockets and ignore the rest of America. GovExec.com reader Posted January 8, 2005 8:29 PM
• Amazing that she gets only nine months jail time for deceiving the Government and American public in using her Top-Level position for self-gain which robbed us, the taxpayers, of several BILLION DOLLARS. The uncontrollable drug addict, on the other hand, robs a 7-Eleven for $26.00 and typically won’t see the light of day for many, many, years. Something isn’t right here. She needs to be made an example of and until which time white-collar criminals are properly prosecuted, or laws changed to adequately punish, this type of behavior will continue to exist both in the public and private sectors. David Posted January 7, 2005 2:04 PM
• Last night on 60 Minutes , Sambur (Druyun's Boss) looked the interviewer in the eye, said he was treated like summer help by Druyun, and flatly stated that no one among his staff of 500 knew anything wrong was being perpetrated by Druyun. COME ON! What kind of gross negligence is the Air Force tolerating anyway? GovExec.com reader Posted January 6, 2005 11:56 AM