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Prosecutors: Contractor Lavished Lawmaker With Gifts

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Oct 3, 2007 6:19 pm US/Pacific

Prosecutors: Contractor Lavished Lawmaker With Gifts

SAN DIEGO (AP) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham
AP

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A defense contractor lavished former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham with expensive dinners and other gifts as he sought Pentagon contracts, a federal prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.

Assistant U.S. attorney Phillip Halpern displayed photographs of a jet boat Brent Wilkes is accused of buying for Cunningham and a receipt for a $3,000 dinner on a large screen in the courtroom.

"This is not how Washington normally works," Halpern told jurors during his opening statement. "You're going to hear testimony that this was not business as usual."

Wilkes has pleaded not guilty to bribery, conspiracy, fraud, money laundering. The government dropped charges of unlawful monetary transactions Wednesday. If convicted, Wilkes faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Cunningham, a San Diego Republican who was elected to eight terms, is serving more than eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2005 to accepting $2.4 million in bribes from Wilkes and others.