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Firms Tied to Murtha Have Tronbled Past - washingtonpost.com Page l of 3 Sign ln |Reg The Washington post SEE HOW SAP CAN HEPYOU BRIGA TODAY'S NEWSPAPER Subscrbe | PostPoints CLARITY TO YOOR BUSINESS HOANOYION.&DECIDE bing red pumps NEWS POLITICS OPINIONS BUSINESS LOCAL SPORTS ARTS & LIVING GOING OUT GUIDE JOBS CARS REAL ESTATE REnTALS CLASSIFIEDS SEARCH: go O washingtonpost.com Web : Resuits by GOogle" I Search Archives washkgtonpost.com > Polltics Advarmeren: Your Ad here Page 2 of2 <Back Firms Tied to Murtha Have Troubled Past Childhood friend Peter Whorley SLIDESHOW Prevous Next Suggested to Bill that he could make more if they teamed up to run marijuana from Miami, according to court and criminal records. Business was lucrative until Whorley and Bill Kuchera were arrested in 1981, Wisconsin FROM NOW ON criminal records show. They were sentenced to several years in federal & DECIDE prison. Kuchera served I1 months. 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. A booth for the Kuchera companies is part of Ihe Showcase for. DLJIO Kuchera Industries, or Kll, which father's day then built electronic circuit boards.. (Sy Gene J Puskar --Assocrated Press) "He said, 'I want to make a fresh start,' " Michael TOOLBOX Kuchera said. "He was family, and I wanted to help. I RResize made him my full partner: 50-50." The uncle put Bill in E-mall Yahoo! Buze charge of running the plant. Ron joined them. Also fresh out of prison, Whorley provided names of. COMMENT government contracting officials he leamed about from 123Comments Viaw All fellow prisoners. Whorley said he invested $50,000 in Kil for a share of the profits and steered the Kucheras to COMMENTSARE CLOSED his contacts at the Census Bureau. where they won WHO'S BLOGGING sphar federal work. Links to thle article But Whoriey continued selling drugs, earning a 10-year prison sentence with his next federal. Compllance Pharmaclet LOS ANGELES.CA-CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER conviction. He later filed a lawsuit claiming that Bill Kuchera cheated him out of his share of Inpatlant Oncology Phamacist the firm's profits. but it was unsuccessful. LOS ANGELES,CA-CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER For a long time, business hummed along. But new tensions arose within Kll. Michael ialist Pharmacis EDICAL CENTER Kuchera said he grew upset when customers warned him that Bill had paid them cash "gifts" to retain their business. In 1993, Michael Kuchcra said, Bill persuaded his uncle to sell the ncy Deptartment.Pharmscist LOSANGELES.CA-CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER company to a local buyer Bill had found. Months Iater, Michael Kuchera said he discovered IV Room Pharmacist that he actua!ly had signed over his company to an entity controlled by his nephews. He said he consulted a lawyer, who toid him there was little he could do. LOS ANGELES.CA-CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER SEE ALL JOBS Advertnemen By 1994, the Kuchera brothers had moved their operations to Windber, Pa. Find Your Dream Job Now! 1I miles east of Johnstown. with hope of winning defense contracts that Murtha said he wanted to bring to the district. They partnered with Hughes Aircraft as part of a Defense keywords location Department mentor-protege program. Kuchera Defense Systems qualified as a small, FIND SOBS disadvantaged business, because it reported that at least 20 percent of its employees were Jobs by SimplyHired mentor after it acquired Hughes, a partnership that Murtha's office said the lawmaker FEATURED ADVERTISER LINKS encouraged. er Asbestos Lung Cancar.Hydroxycut,Raptiva 'Without Raytheon and without Congressman Murtha, there would be no Kuchera Defense,' Mesothelloma Lawyer, Construction, Zimmar Durom Hlp http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/04/AR2009060404556_2.... 6/8/2009