Jaw-Droppingly Tawdry Federal Corruption Case Involves Oregon Contractor

Sky and Anne Sky of Sky Research, Inc. in Ashland. Their company is named in a U.S. Army corruption investigation.
By COREY PEIN

An Associated Press story making the rounds today follows up on a stunning corruption case first reported by the Eugene Reigster-Guard. The story concerns an ongoing corruption case involving an Ashland-based defense contractor and a contracting official with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The contractor, Sky Research, Inc., is owned by Sky—that's his full legal name—and his wife, Anne Sky, pictured. Their attorney has denied the allegations in a statement, saying the case laid out in two recent federal search warrant applications by U.S. Army criminal investigators was based on "rumor and speculation."

The basics of the investigation—which has not yet produced criminal charges or a civil complaint—are laid out in the July 21 Register-Guard story:

Sky Research has received some $160 million in federal contracts since 2004.

The most shocking allegation in the investigators' affidavits is that Hodgson favored Sky Research not only because of his close personal friendship with its owner, but because Sky repeatedly hired female employees for Hodgson and encouraged them to let Hodgson pursue them sexually. 

In the affidavit, Hodgson admits to sexual relationships or encounters with three Sky employees: Tracie White, Meggan Pickner and Cindy McClaughlin. Several women confirmed those relationships in court documents.

The court files contain much more detail than the AP and Register-Guard stories. For example, the following excerpt from the affidavit of Special Agent Lindbom shows how just how close Hodgson was to Sky and the company's employees:

Lindbom also interviewed a Sky Research employee who believes she was fired because she didn't sleep with Hodgson:

Sky Research may not have been the only company Hodgson approached in this way.

Indeed, the affidavit cites a series of emails between Hodgson and Cynthia Liu, president of Engineering Remediation Resources Group, Inc., another Corps of Engineers contractor based in California and with an office in Portland.

Liu emailed the following to Hodgson on Feb. 19, 2011, the affidavit says:

Hodgson replied on Feb. 20:

Liu's reply, Feb. 20:

Hodgson's reply, Feb. 22:

Liu's reply, Feb. 22:

The investigator's affidavit says Liu equivocated on the question about the nature of her relationship with Hodgson:

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