Neal, Former DOD SADBU Director, Draws Long Prison Term Robert L. Neal Jr., former director of the Defense Department’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, has been sentenced to 24 and one-third years in prison for extorting payoffs from small companies in return for favorable treatment. Neal’s former executive assistant, Francis D. Jones Jr., received the same sentence from U.S. District Judge James Cacheris in Alexandria, VA. The two were convicted in July of multiple counts of extortion, money laundering and conspiracy. The judge also ordered the defendants to forfeit Rolex watches, homes, automobiles, stock in a savings and loan association and investment accounts, including $19,000 in a foreign account in Liechtenstein. Jones also forfeited his interest in an $867,000 note resulting from the sale of his business. Prosecutors said the two received more than $1 million in bribes as well as expensive gifts and the services of prostitutes. More than half a dozen firms were victims of the extortion. At his sentencing Dec. 12, Neal protested, “For 27 years, I have sacrificed for the federal government in providing assistance to small businesses… That was my job, helping small businesses to gain access.” But the Alexandria U.S. Attorney, Paul McNulty, said in a statement, “These defendants were entrusted with a mission to serve disadvantaged people and instead used their positions to serve themselves. This case involved a despicable breach of trust.” The long prison terms were based in part on the government’s contention that Neal and Jones improperly influenced contract awards worth more than $20 million. Defense lawyers disputed that figure. Both men said they would appeal. Their lawyers said some key government witnesses were not credible because they had been granted immunity from prosecution. Neal served as the Pentagon’s SADBU director from June 1996 to June 2001 and worked for a consulting firm after leaving government.