GovernmentExecutive.com

A former Air Force procurement officer who later served as a top executive at Boeing pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to help the aviation company obtain a multibillion-dollar Pentagon contract, the Associated Press reported.

Darleen Druyun entered the plea in U.S. District Court to a single count of conspiracy, which carries a maximum five years in prison.

"I deeply regret my actions and I want to apologize,'' Druyun said.

Druyun and former Boeing chief financial officer Michael Sears were the subject of a federal grand jury investigation into the Air Force's plan to acquire 100 refueling tankers from the jet maker.

Boeing officials said Sears improperly contacted Druyun about a possible top-level post in 2002 when she still was at the Air Force and playing a key role in deciding whether the company should be awarded the tanker contract.

COMMENTS

• Lets be honest, Druyun lied and acted in an unethical manner. We have soldiers, sailors, airman and marines buying their own protective gear while Druyun admits to years (yes she admitted to giving Boeing several years of preferential treatment)of misconduct. She should lose her pension and spend at least 5 years in jail. Military Officer - Navy Posted October 6, 2005 9:24 AM
• I hate to argue with all the "conspiracy theory" folks out there, but I know Darlene to be one of the toughest acquisition people ever. She never left any money on the table when dealing with government contractors. Her problem, if you are looking for a problem, is that after more than thirty years of outstanding service to the Air Force and NASA, she made a poor decision. At the end of her government career she was looking for what to do next with her life, same as most of the rest of us. The truth is that over her career, she negotiated billions of dollars worth of contracts with virtually every major defense contractor in the country. I worked with her 25 years ago, and have followed her career since that time, I have personal knowledge or how well she did her job. The only issue she had professionally was an issue of calling it like she saw it, it didn't make much difference who she was dealing with. If you look up the term politically incorrect in the dictionary, you will probably find a picture of Darlene. She was a 3 star equivalent civilian, a female in a mans world, she took no s#*t from anyone, she made more than a few enemies as a result of doing her job. The Congress Daily got it wrong, she did not plead guilty to conspiracy on the Tanker Program, she pleaded guilty to talking to a contractor about employment while having a business relationship with that contractor. It has to do with Procurement Integrity, not conspiring with a contractor to help them get a contract so she could get a job. She saved the American taxpayer untold millions, perhaps billions, and was a mentor to hundreds of acquisition professionals during her career.....lets not be so quick to judge, especially based on incomplete reporting by the press.....God bless her and her family Michael W. Page Posted April 27, 2004 1:28 PM
• From what I've read, she was a hard charger and was tough in acquisition world. Unfortunately any good is now overtaken by this corruption and divestiture of personal and professional ethics for greed and personal gain. She got caught and prison time would be in order to make an example and send a message to others. Unfortunately there are many other examples throughout in DoD, with the revolving door with contractors. Federal manager Posted April 24, 2004 11:14 AM