By KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writer
Published September 19, 2007
A federal appeals court upheld the 15-month prison sentence Tuesday of a former Special Operations Command contractor convicted of conspiracy.
Tom Spellissy was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Whittemore in August 2006.
Prosecutors said that Spellissy, a retired Army colonel turned private defense contractor, caused irreparable harm at Special Operations Command in Tampa by seeking special treatment for his clients in the defense industry.
Spellissy's case began last year when federal prosecutors accused him of paying $4,500 in bribes to William Burke, another private contractor at Special Operations Command. Burke pleaded guilty.
A jury found Spellissy guilty of all charges: two counts each of bribery and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. Whittemore later threw out most of the jury's verdict. He dismissed the bribery charges and ordered a new trial for the wire fraud charges.
The U.S. Attorney's Office has said it was awaiting the appeals court ruling before deciding whether to retry Spellissy.
Spellissy's company, Strategic Defense International Inc. of Clearwater, was fined $125,000.