DUNCAN MAN AND A LAWTON WOMAN & FORMER ARMY TRAINING MANAGER AT FORT SILL INDICTED ON PUBLIC CORRUPTION CHARGES

May 04, 2023

LAWTON WOMAN AND FORMER ARMY TRAINING MANAGER AT FORT SILL INDICTED ON PUBLIC CORRUPTION CHARGES

OKLAHOMA CITY – Earlier this week, a federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging Candy Hanza, 50, of Lawton, and Alfred Palma, 64, of Duncan, with bribery, announced Robert J. Troester, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. Hanza is also charged with wire fraud and money laundering.

According to the publicly filed Indictment, Palma, a United States Army employee and public official, was the manager of the Institutional Training Directed Lodging and Meals (“ITDLM”) program at Fort Sill, through which he booked hotel rooms for soldiers who attended on-post trainings. Hanza, then the general manager of a local hotel in Lawton, paid Palma to direct soldiers to the hotel. The Indictment alleges that Hanza then personally profited through her own scheme to defraud the hotel owners and laundered the resulting proceeds.

Hanza and Palma will be arraigned in federal court on the charges. If found guilty of bribery, Hanza and Palma each face up to fifteen years in federal prison, a fine of $250,000.00 or three times the monetary value of the bribes, and up to three years of supervised release. Hanza additionally faces up to twenty years in prison, a $250,000.00 fine, and up to three years of supervised release if convicted of wire fraud, as well as up to ten years in prison, a $250,000.00 fine, and up to three years of supervised upon conviction for money laundering.

This case is the result of an investigation by the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division and the Department of Defense Contract Audit Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia E. Barry is prosecuting the case.

The public is reminded that these charges are merely allegations, and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Reference is made to public records for more information.