Former CIA Official, Contractor Plead Not Guilty To New Charges

SAN DIEGO -- An Oct. 23 trial date was set Tuesday for a former Poway defense contractor and the former No. 3 man at the CIA charged in connection with the bribery and corruption scandal that sent former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham to prison.

In a two-hour hearing before U.S. District Judge Larry Burns, former defense contractor Brent Wilkes and former CIA official Kyle "Dusty" Foggo pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, honest services wire fraud and money laundering charges contained in a second superseding indictment.

The pair was originally indicted Feb. 13.

Wilkes and New York mortgage banker John T. Michel, who is charged with obstruction of justice, will first stand trial Sept. 18 on charges contained in a separate indictment.

Wilkes allegedly provided more than $700,000 to Cunningham, who in return betrayed the public trust by corruptly influencing the appropriations of funds and the execution of government contracts that would help Wilkes' company, ADCS Inc.

Wilkes' attorney, Mark Geragos, asked Burns to dismiss the case or order an investigation into allegations that the federal government leaked the information on the indictments to the media before they were issued.

Burns refused to dismiss the case, saying he was satisfied the Department of Justice was looking into the matter.

Geragos said he was convinced the leaks came out of the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego.

"I'm at a loss," Geragos told the judge. "It's been a concerted effort to destroy my client prior to getting him into a courtroom."

Burns also refused to move Foggo's trial to Virginia, where he lives.

Prosecutors said most of the case against Wilkes and Foggo originated in San Diego.

Burns told Foggo he could skip pretrial hearings and have his attorney appear for him if he wanted to.

Geragos continued to refuse to undergo an FBI background check so he can get clearance to view classified documents.

The judge told Wilkes that because of that, he wouldn't be getting those classified documents in preparation for trial.