Riverview defense contractor pleads guilty to bribery

TAMPA — Ankana Pecault Stovall has pleaded guilty to an indictment charging her with conspiracy to pay gratuities and supplement U.S. military members' salaries in order to get a leg up on contracts she sought in Iraq.

The Riverview defense contractor faces a maximum of five years in federal prison and the U.S. Attorney's office, prosecuting the case, also seeks a $19,500 judgment. A sentencing date has yet to be set.

The plea follows similar guilt admissions from her co-conspirators, U.S. Army Master Gunnery Sgt. Timothy Lerone Benton of Virginia, and First Sgt. Richard Allen Smith of Delaware, who say they received bribes from Stovall during their time in Iraq in exchange for preferential contract treatment.

Between June 2007 and October 2009, Stovall ran Logistics Support and Services Co. out of Riverview, according to court documents. The firm worked with the U.S. military at Camp Liberty in Baghdad. Benton would escort trucks loaded with furniture, gravel and other supplies through Camp Liberty to circumvent the required security procedures on the base.

For that help, Stovall would pay Benton cash, including $6,400 for two 47-inch televisions, and $5,500 for 100 digital cables.

Once Benton returned from Iraq, Stovall allegedly used company funds to pay for a vacation for the two of them in the Bahamas. Later that year, she gave Benton a $5,000, no-interest loan.

Benton would later draft two official memos at the Pentagon sponsoring and endorsing Stovall and her company to do business at Camp Liberty.

Stovall also made cash payments totaling $3,000 to Smith, according to court documents. At the time, Smith was in charge of the motor pool at Camp Liberty, and was responsible for assigning military vehicle maintenance work to contractors.

The Army's Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service worked on the investigation with the U.S. Attorney's office.