Darleen Druyun

Former Air Force official Darleen Druyun, who pleaded guilty to favoring Boeing Co. on several multibillion-dollar contracts, became unusually powerful because she took advantage of a flawed bureaucracy, a top Pentagon official said. But the armed services shouldn't be blamed, Marvin Sambur, the Air Force's outgoing assistant secretary for acquisition and Druyun's last boss, said in an interview. He said the Air Force had been tarred because of the "great misdeed of an individual."

Boeing Co. must compete again for an Air Force contract worth more than $3 billion to upgrade avionics on C-130 Hercules cargo planes because of a conflict of interest involving the original awarding of the contract. Michael Dominguez, acting secretary of the Air Force, announced his decision in a letter Tuesday to U.S. Comptroller Gen. David Walker.

The Pentagon's internal watchdog has begun investigating two additional contracts handled by convicted former Air Force official Darleen Druyun and could add three more deals to its growing list of possibly tainted procurements, the Pentagon said Monday. Druyun is serving a nine-month prison term for violating federal conflict-of-interest laws by negotiating a $250,000-a-year job with Boeing Co. while still overseeing its business with the Air Force.

The Pentagon's internal watchdog has begun investigating two additional contracts handled by convicted former Air Force official Darleen Druyun and could add three more deals to its growing list of possibly tainted procurements, the Pentagon said Monday. Druyun is serving a nine-month prison term for violating federal conflict-of-interest laws by negotiating a $250,000-a-year job with Boeing Co. while still overseeing its business with the Air Force.

Lockheed Martin Corp. said Wednesday that it had filed a request with a federal court to question a former top Air Force official who was sentenced to prison for admitting that she favored Lockheed rival Boeing Co. on several multibillion-dollar Pentagon contracts. Lockheed said in its filing in federal court in Orlando, Fla., that its lawyers wanted to know whether Darleen Druyun had tainted the awarding of a $1.88-billion rocket contract to Boeing in 1998. Last year, Bethesda, Md.

Darleen Druyun, the former No. 2 acquisitions official at the U.S. Air Force who admitted negotiating a job with Boeing Co. while still overseeing its contracts, probably will face six months or longer in jail, people familiar with the case said Tuesday. The people, who asked not to be identified, said federal prosecutors were not pleased with Druyun's cooperation under a plea agreement signed last April, which shielded her daughter from prosecution in exchange for help on the case.

New questions emerged Tuesday about former Air Force official Darleen Druyun, whom Boeing Co. hired as an executive after she helped the Pentagon negotiate a multibillion-dollar deal to lease Boeing 767s as airborne refueling tankers. The National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative nonprofit group opposing the lease deal, released public records that show Druyun agreed to sell her Virginia home to a Boeing attorney while she was still working as an Air Force procurement official.

A tearful former top Air Force official Tuesday pleaded guilty to conspiracy for discussing a job with Boeing Co. while overseeing the Air Force's business dealings with the company. Darleen Druyun, 56, who retired as the No. 2 Air Force acquisition official in November 2002 and took a job with Boeing two months later, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors who are investigating Michael Sears, the former Boeing chief financial officer who hired her.

A Pentagon probe of more than 400 contracts overseen by disgraced Air Force official Darleen Druyun found eight deals that were questionable, including four awarded to Boeing Co., a top Defense Department official said Monday. The special panel that reviewed the contracts didn't unearth any wrongdoing, though it did ask the Pentagon's inspector general to review the eight awards, which it described as deviating from "general contracting procedures."

As Harry Stonecipher presides over his first board meeting today as chief executive at Boeing Co., the talk on Wall Street and in aviation circles is already about who will replace him. Stonecipher, the 67-year-old former Boeing president and CEO at McDonnell Douglas Corp., was called out of retirement two weeks ago to take the helm of the world's largest aerospace company.

A $4-billion contract awarded to Boeing Co. to upgrade cockpit avionics on C-130 military cargo planes might have been tainted by the "improper involvement and influence" of disgraced former Air Force official Darleen Druyun, a government audit agency said Thursday. The Government Accountability Office recommended that the Air Force reopen a remaining portion of the contract -- potentially worth $1.8 billion -- to competitive bidding.

A Pentagon probe of more than 400 contracts overseen by disgraced Air Force official Darleen Druyun found eight deals that were questionable, including four awarded to Boeing Co., a top Defense Department official said Monday. The special panel that reviewed the contracts didn't unearth any wrongdoing, though it did ask the Pentagon's inspector general to review the eight awards, which it described as deviating from "general contracting procedures."

Former Air Force official Darleen Druyun, who pleaded guilty to favoring Boeing Co. on several multibillion-dollar contracts, became unusually powerful because she took advantage of a flawed bureaucracy, a top Pentagon official said. But the armed services shouldn't be blamed, Marvin Sambur, the Air Force's outgoing assistant secretary for acquisition and Druyun's last boss, said in an interview. He said the Air Force had been tarred because of the "great misdeed of an individual."

Lockheed Martin Corp. said Wednesday that it had filed a request with a federal court to question a former top Air Force official who was sentenced to prison for admitting that she favored Lockheed rival Boeing Co. on several multibillion-dollar Pentagon contracts. Lockheed said in its filing in federal court in Orlando, Fla., that its lawyers wanted to know whether Darleen Druyun had tainted the awarding of a $1.88-billion rocket contract to Boeing in 1998. Last year, Bethesda, Md.

Darleen Druyun, the former No. 2 acquisitions official at the U.S. Air Force who admitted negotiating a job with Boeing Co. while still overseeing its contracts, probably will face six months or longer in jail, people familiar with the case said Tuesday. The people, who asked not to be identified, said federal prosecutors were not pleased with Druyun's cooperation under a plea agreement signed last April, which shielded her daughter from prosecution in exchange for help on the case.

A tearful former top Air Force official Tuesday pleaded guilty to conspiracy for discussing a job with Boeing Co. while overseeing the Air Force's business dealings with the company. Darleen Druyun, 56, who retired as the No. 2 Air Force acquisition official in November 2002 and took a job with Boeing two months later, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors who are investigating Michael Sears, the former Boeing chief financial officer who hired her.

Boeing Co. must compete again for an Air Force contract worth more than $3 billion to upgrade avionics on C-130 Hercules cargo planes because of a conflict of interest involving the original awarding of the contract. Michael Dominguez, acting secretary of the Air Force, announced his decision in a letter Tuesday to U.S. Comptroller Gen. David Walker.

As Harry Stonecipher presides over his first board meeting today as chief executive at Boeing Co., the talk on Wall Street and in aviation circles is already about who will replace him. Stonecipher, the 67-year-old former Boeing president and CEO at McDonnell Douglas Corp., was called out of retirement two weeks ago to take the helm of the world's largest aerospace company.