A defense contractor convicted of bribing former U.S. Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham will head to prison after a federal appeals court declined to give him a new trial, concluding that the testimony of one of his proposed witnesses did not contradict that of an immunized government witness.
Cunningham, a Republican from San Diego, resigned from office after pleading guilty in 2005 to taking $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors. One of those defense contractors, Brent Wilkes, was convicted in 2007 on charges of bribery, honest services wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay $636,116 in criminal forfeiture. He has been free on bond since 2009 pending his appeal.
