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The Associated Press

Published: March 31, 2009

NEW ORLEANS - A former Army Corps of Engineers consultant on trial for bribery was working behind the scenes to improve a Hurricane Katrina levee project, not to profit from it, his defense attorney told jurors Monday.

Kern Wilson, 58, of Apollo Beach is charged with conspiring with subcontractor Durwanda Elizabeth Heinrich, 46, of Metairie to bribe another corps consultant for confidential information about bids for a $16 million contract to rebuild a levee southwest of New Orleans.

Wilson's attorney, Steven Lemoine, said his client merely raised concerns about one of the bids with a fellow corps contractor, Raul Miranda, because he saw flaws in the contractor's proposal.

"Kern Wilson is a good man," Lemoine said. "He's a public servant. He's a patriot. He's not motivated by greed or anything like that."

Heinrich allegedly promised to pay Wilson and Miranda nearly $300,000 apiece, or 25 cents for every cubic yard of material used to reconstruct and enlarge the Lake Cataouatche levees, which protect New Orleans suburbs and small towns west of the Mississippi River.

Miranda "was a little hesitant, at first ... but they were very persistent," said prosecutor Joan Marshall, an attorney for the Justice Department's antitrust division.

Miranda, 51, of Spring, Texas, pleaded guilty to a bribery charge in September 2007 and is awaiting sentencing. He is expected to testify against Wilson and Heinrich.

Heinrich was trying to find work as a dirt, sand and gravel subcontractor after the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane. Prosecutors say she was hoping to secure a subcontract for the project when she showed the confidential information to one of the bidders before the contract was awarded.

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