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‘Firms Tied to Murtha Have Troubled Past - washingtonpost.com Page 1 of 3 Sign in | Register Now f : TODAY'S NEWSPAPER , ye QS iG Subscribe | PostPoints PROM ROYWION, oo & DOING Mier aastt Advertisemant 7 | BUSINESS | LOCAL | SPORTS | ARTS & LIVING || GOING OUT GUIDE POLITICS | OPINIONS JOBS || CARS | REAL ESTATE || RENTALS CLASSIFIEDS SEARCH: © @ washingtonpost.com () Web : Resuits by Google” | Search Archives washingtonpost.com > Politics Political Browser: The Post's Dady Guide to Politics on the Web MORE » Advernsement + Your Ad here Page 20f2 <Back Firms Tied to Murtha Have Troubled Past Childhood friend Peter Whorley suggested to Bill that he could make more if they teamed up to run marijuana from Miami, according to court and criminal records. SLIDESHOW Previous Next Business was lucrative until Whorley and Bill Kuchera were arrested in 1981, Wisconsin criminal records show. They were sentenced to several years in federal prison. Kuchera served [1 months. FROM NOW ON, & DECIDE. After his release, Bill Kuchera struggled to run a small corner grocery in Racine. In 1985, he asked his uncle Mike for a job with di . , . : A booth for the Kuchera companies is part of lhe Showcase for I mY father's day i Kuchera Industries, or KI], which Commerce trade show in Johnstown, Pa Bill Kuchera is at the far nght. 3 then built electronic circuit boards. (By Gene J Puskar-- Associated Press) SL "He said, ‘I want to make a fresh start,’ " Michael TOOLBOX Kuchera said. "He was family, and ] wanted to help. I FFF Resize Print E-mall made him my full partner: 50-50." The uncle put Bill in Yahoo! 8 charge of running the plant. Ron joined them. shoo! Buzz @ Also fresh out of prison, Whorley provided names of COMMENT government contracting officials he leamed about from = 123 commems | View an» fellow prisoners, Whorley said he invested $50,000 in KI] for a share of the profits and steered the Kucheras to his contacts at the Census Bureau. where they won WHO'S BLOGGING powsea ty Spivera federal work. COMMENTS ARE CLOSED » Links to thia article Compliance Pharmacist But Whorley continued selling drugs, earning a 10-year prison sentence with his next federal LOS ANGELES, CA - CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER conviction. He later filed a lawsuit claiming that Bill Kuchera cheated him out ofhis shareof + Inpatient Oncology Pharmacist the firm's profits, but it was unsuccessful. LOS ANGELES, CA. CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER “2 ; For a long time, business hummed along. But new tensions arose within KI]. Michael LOS ANGELES. CA - CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER Kuchera said he grew upset when customers warned him that Bill had paid them cash "gifts" + Emergency Deptartment Pharmacist to retain their business. In 1993, Michael Kuchcra said, Bill persuaded his uncle to sell the LOS ANGELES, CA- CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER company to a local buyer Bill had found. Months later, Michael Kuchera said he discovered * 1 Room Pharmacist that he actually had signed over his company to an entity controlled by his nephews. He said LOS ANGELES, CA - CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER he consulted a lawyer, who told him there was little he could do. SEE A Adverinement By 1994, the Kuchera brothers had moved their operations to Windher, Pa., 7 11 miles east of Johnstown, with hope of winning defense contracts that Murtha said he F Find Your Dream Job Now! wanted to bring to the district. They partnered with Hughes Aircraft as part of a Defense keywords | |llocation Department mentor-protege program. Kuchera Defense Systems qualified as a small, disadvantaged business, because it reported that at least 20 percent of its employees were disabled, meeting the government's standard. Raytheon became Kuchera Defense Systems’ ‘obs by SimplyHired mentor after it acquired Hughes, a partnership that Murtha's office said the lawmaker FEATURED ADVERTISER LINKS encouraged. Lawyer: Asbestos Lung Cancar, Hydroxycut, Raptiva "Without Raytheon and without Congressman Murtha, there would be no Kuchera Defense,” Mesothelioma Lawyer, Construction, Zimmar Durom Hip http://www. washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/04/AR2009060404556_2.... 6/8/2009