Salesman sentenced to 2 1/2 years for fraud

The Baltimore Sun

A salesman was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison yesterday for a bribery scheme that defrauded the Army of $288,000 at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County, federal prosecutors said.

Wayne Silbersack, a 65-year-old salesman for Lawson Products, also must serve three years of supervised probation upon his release and pay restitution to the government.

Prosecutors said that from 2003 to 2004, Silbersack took orders from two civilians who worked in a testing center and then issued invoices that falsely described the products and showed inflated prices. The civilian workers, prosecutors said, used purchased items for personal use.

Items bought with a government credit card, and paid for by the Army, included an 8,000-watt generator, a shed built at one of the men's homes, garage doors and an air compressor. Prosecutors said Silbersack received more than $78,000 in commissions.

The two civilian workers at Aberdeen, Gerard Yursis, 46, of Parkton and Douglas Atwell, 52, of Port Deposit, have pleaded guilty to bribery and face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Atwell is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 30; Yursis' sentencing has not been scheduled.

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