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Former city business operator convicted in federal court. Date published: 3/5/2010
BY KEITH EPPS A Fredericksburg businessman who conned the federal government was convicted of two charges yesterday. John Patton Straiton IV, 66, pleaded guilty in federal court in Richmond to making false claims and theft of government property, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Straiton will face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced June 9. According to court records, Straiton owned and operated L.B. Technologies and A.B. Wolfe Inc. in Fredericksburg after registering them under false names. The companies obtained contracts to supply tactical apparel to the Army and Marine Corps. But Straiton apparently obtained the contracts under false pretenses. In 1986, Straiton was sentenced to two years in federal prison for shipping faulty ammunition to the government of El Salvador under a $4.8 million Pentagon contract. At that time, he was operating a business called Nordac Manufacturing Corp. in Stafford County. In 1987, court records show, the Defense Logistics Agency barred Straiton from government contracting for 10 years. Federal prosecutors contend that Straiton got around that restriction by using false names and aliases to register with the Central Contracting Registry. Among the names he used were John M. Clarke, Charles McCord and Charles Simpson. He used a fake name to set up the businesses he operated in Fredericksburg. He was eventually awarded 16 Department of Defense contracts worth nearly $400,000. Straiton would electronically notify the DOD upon completion of the items called for in the contracts, and was paid electronically by the government. The government eventually caught on to the deception and last year searched three buildings Straiton operated in the area. The federal investigation began in January 2009 after city Fire Marshal Jay Babcock made a routine inspection of a the building at 404 Willis St. He and city building inspectors found L.B. Technologies operating with no permits or business license. They also found that Straiton had made alterations to the building that authorities said made it unsafe for the roughly 50 workers there. That resulted in the investigation into Straiton's business practices and the arrests of workers who already had deportation orders. A building on Wolfe Street leased by Straiton was also searched by federal agents. Straiton used the name John M. Clarke to register L.B. Technologies with the federal government, court records state. But property owners who leased the buildings said they'd dealt only with Straiton. Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
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