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Firms Tied to Murtha Have Tronbled Past - washingtonpost.com Page 1 of 3 Sign In | Register Now The Washington post TODAY'S NEWSPAPER Subscnbe |PostPoints A fast and easy way to... Beat the heat. OPINIONSBUSiNESS LOCAL SPORTS ARTS & LIMNG GOING OUT GUIDE JOBS cArS Real estate CLASSIFIEDS SEARCH: go O washingtonpost.com Web ; Resurs by Gougle" Search Archives washingtonpost.com >Politic Poltical Browser: The Post's Daily Gurde to olitics on the Web MORE Firms Tied to Murtha Have Troubled Past Companies Under Investigation Have Gotten Millions in Earmarks By Caroi D Leonnig and Alice Cntes Washington Post Staff Writers SLIDESHOW Previous Next Friday. June 5, 2009 AR DEFINED THE CHOICES CROYLE TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Inside the LBK Ranch, a private OUMAKE game preserve on a scenic hilltop here, guests mingle at a stone lodge after hunting deer and wild boar. Signs posted at intervals along the fence warn: "No Trespassing: U.S Govt. Testing Facility." Defense firm owner Bill Kuchera and his wife, Lena, the owners of the 161-acre property, live in an upscale iog home within the preserve and go to extensive efforts to keep out strangers. There are no (By Gene J Puskar -- Associated Press) visible signs of government testing, but behind the 10-foot fence and electronic gate lies the answer to a politically sensitive TOOLBOX question now under federal scrutiny: whether Kuchera's EAReaizo Print companies padded their Pentagon billings and diverted Yahool Buzr taxpayer money to their own pet projects. COMMENT In January, federal agents raided the ranch, along with the homes of Bill Kuchera and his younger brother Ron Comments and the offices of two Kuchera companies. Federal COMMENTS ARE CLOSED authorities are investigating tips from company insiders suggesting that taxpayers were billed improperly for powrd by sptar Kuchera family expenses and ranch rcnovations, Links to this articie according to sources familiar with the probc. Tens of millions of dollars in Defense Department contracts have flowed to Kuchera's companies Find Your Dream Job Now! because of the Iocal congressman, Democratic Rep. John P. Murtha, the chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. The Navy recently suspended the company keywords location from future contracts while the investigation proceeds. EIND JIOBS Jobs by SimplyHired Murtha, who was celebrated at the L.BK Ranch with a fundraiser held in his honor, last week sidestepped questions about $50 million in earmarked funds and contracts he has helped. FEATURED ADVERTISER LINKS direct to Kuchera Defense Systems and Kuchera Industries Inc. since 2001. But newly Lawysr: Asbestos Lung Cancer, Hydroxycut, Raptiva obtained documents and interviews show that the current federal investigation is only the latest chapter in the troubled history of the Kuchera brothers'business ventures. oma Lawyer, Construction,Zimrner Durom Hip sat Vacations To Go The Kucheras have a complicated family history that involves drug-running and a family Got your complete credit history from all three major credh feud that left the brothers in control of the companics. Over time they became atfluent and agencies respected defense contractors in their home town near Johnstown, Pa Before Bill Kuchera produced electronics and robotic equipment for the Pentagon, he helped. run thousands of pounds of marijuana and some cocaine from Miami to sell in Racine, Wis.,. according to criminal records and accounts of others involved in the drug operation. Bill Kuchera pleaded guilty to a single and lesser felony distribution charge in 1982 after H6A-Pb-77123 -92 cooperating witnesses implicated other Kuchera family members in helping store drugs at the. family home. Ron Kuchera and the boys' parents were never prosecuted. b6 b7C http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/04/AR2009060404556.ht... 6/8/2009