Army sergeant accused of taking bribes in Afghanistan

PADUCAH, Ky. — An Army sergeant from Fort Campbell has been accused of taking $100,000 and a Rolex watch in bribes from vendors seeking contracts in Afghanistan.

A document filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Paducah charges 43-year-old Ramiro Pena Jr. with conspiring to commit bribery in 2008 and 2009.

The U.S. attorney's office says Pena's supervisor in Afghanistan was Army Master Sgt. Jimmy W. Dennis of Clarksville, Tennessee, who pleaded guilty last year with another man for laundering about $250,000 in bribes. Dennis was sentenced to 41 months.

The prosecutor's office said in a news release that Dennis worked with Pena to procure supplies for the Humanitarian Aid Yard at Bagram airfield by issuing contracts to local Afghan vendors. The release said Dennis and Pena processed approximately 217 contracts worth about $30.7 million.

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