During the 1995-2005 period, some of the two dozen firms in San Diego and Virginia owned by Brent R. Wilkes received about $100 million in federal contracts. Most of Wilkes' government work came from earmarks.Peter Pae and Dan Morain, "Cozying Up to Power", Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2006 In November 2005, Wilkes was described as "co-conspirator No. 1" in a plea agreement signed by Representative Randy Cunningham, a California Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. In the plea deal, Cunningham admitted accepting more than $2.4 million in cash and gifts from Wilkes and other contractors.David Johnson and David D. Kirkpatrick, "Washington Deal Maker Details Palm Greasing", August 6, 2006 Since 1993, Lewis has received $88,000 in contributions from Wilkes and his associates. Lewis has subsequently given $56,000 of that to Habitat for Humanity.Claire Vitucci, Michelle DeArmond, and Richard K. De Atley, "Lewis denies knowing of ethics investigation" , Press- Enterprise, May 12, 2006 Wilkes paid Lowery's firm $160,000 in fees, according to original filings by Copeland Lowery.George Watson and Andrew Edwards, "Lewis denies report that he was being investigated" , Redlands Daily Facts, May 12, 2006 In fact, those fees were substantially underreported: the firm's fees had increased to $25,000 a month by 2005, and total fees were underreported by at least $225,000.
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