Published: Thursday, February 03, 2011, 12:31 PM    

Updated: Thursday, February 03, 2011, 4:03 PM

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/02/trial_begins_in_bribery_money.html

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- A federal prosecutor told jurors this morning that a Harvest couple lied and schemed while collecting nearly $3 million in bribes related to military contracts in Kuwait.

Attorneys for former U.S. Army Maj. Eddie Pressley and his wife, Eurica Pressley, urged jurors to look closely at the government's evidence and to be wary of "scammers" who the government will call as witnesses although they have already been charged in the case.

The Pressleys face more than 20 counts of bribery, money laundering and honest services wire fraud in the federal trial that got under way this morning in Decatur.

A panel of eight men and eight women was selected for a jury, including four alternates.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins told jurors the case would likely take four to six weeks to complete.

Peter Sprung, a prosecutor with the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section gave the government's opening statement. Sprung told jurors that Pressley, a contracting specialist deployed in Kuwait from fall 2004 to fall 2005, took advantage of the Army's trust and an overburdened contracting office to help direct contracts that netted him nearly $3 million in bribe money.

Sprung said Pressley worked with another Army officer to move the contracts to certain defense contractors in exchange for bribes.

He told the jury that in an effort to hide the bribe money, Eurica Pressley set up bank accounts in the Cayman Islands and the United Arab Emirates in the name of a business consulting company bearing her initials.

The payments into those accounts were based on supposed consulting work, Sprung said, that Eurica Pressley was not qualified to perform.

Eddie Pressley's attorney, Clyde Riley of Birmingham, told jurors the burden of proof in the case is entirely upon the government, that Pressley is innocent until proven guilty and that the evidence would speak for itself.

Tommy Spina of Birmingham, an attorney for Eurica Pressley, told jurors they would be the first ones to hear all the evidence in the case. He told jurors to watch out for "scammers" who have been charged by the government and are looking for consideration from the court when it comes time for their sentencing.

Spina said that the case against Eurica Pressley should be considered on its own merits and jurors should weigh how much information a military wife could have while her husband is deployed thousands of miles away.

Testimony is scheduled to begin this afternoon.