| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Former Boeing managers plead innocent in trade secrets case
Monday August 18, 2003LOS ANGELES (AP) Two former Boeing Co. managers pleaded innocent on Monday to charges they plotted to secure trade secrets from competitor Lockheed Martin Co. to help Boeing win rocket contracts from the Air Force.
Kenneth Branch and William Erskine face a single federal count each of conspiracy to conceal and possess trade secrets. They face up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted. A trial was scheduled for Oct. 14.
A federal indictment alleges Branch, a former Lockheed employee, brought to Boeing thousands of pages of documents that included financial and technical details on Lockheed's planned bid for the $1.88 billion in contracts.
The deal, part of the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program, was eventually divided between Chicago-based Boeing and Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed in 1999.
Prosecutors say Erskine arranged to have Branch hired away by Boeing if he brought Lockheed proprietary documents with him.
Erskine's attorney, Steve Madison, said Monday his client never served as a supervisor for Branch and simply sat in on his job interview. Madison said Erskine only unwittingly possessed ``a handful'' of pages of documents relating to the case, not thousands.
``What you really see is Bill Erskine getting caught in the crossfire in this battle between two huge corporations, Lockheed and Boeing,'' Madison said.
A message left at the office of Branch's attorney, Richard Steingard, was not immediately returned. Steingard previously called it unfortunate that the government is prosecuting his client instead of ``corporate officials that created and implemented this plan.''
The Air Force last month punished Boeing for using Lockheed's records by indefinitely banning it from bidding on satellite launching contracts. It also took away seven satellite launches from Boeing.
Boeing fired Branch, 64, and Erskine, 43, in 1999 after an internal investigation. Both are from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Larry Satchell, whose job was to ensure Boeing's bid came in under Lockheed's, was suspended and has since retired. He was not named in the criminal complaint.
Boeing itself was also not named in the criminal complaint.
Lockheed filed a separate federal civil lawsuit last month against Boeing, the two managers and Satchell.
On the Net:
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/
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