Goode donor pleads guilty to illegal giving

Richard Berglund pleaded guilty Friday, July 21, to making illegal donations to Rep. Virgil Goode, whose district includes Charlottesville. Berglund’s admissions are the latest news in a congressional bribery scandal involving MZM Inc., a company that provides security and other military related services.
    As supervisor of the Martinsville, Virginia, branch of MZM, Berglund received cash in March 2005 from company owner Mitchell Wade for campaign donations to Goode, a Republican who also serves on the House Appropriations Committee. After making a $4,000 donation from himself and his wife, Berglund gave the same amount to two employees, telling them to donate to Goode’s campaign—a direct violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act.
    MZM has a well-established history of bribery: Wade pleaded guilty to bribing another congressman, Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, in order to help win Defense Department contracts. Cunningham pleaded guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes and was sentenced to more than eight years in prison. Wade also admitted making illegal donations to Goode.
    When reached by phone, Linwood Duncan, Goode’s press secretary, had no comment on the Berglund case.
    Goode, who (as reported in a March 7 C-VILLE cover story) was instrumental in opening the Martinsville branch, has said he was unaware that Berglund’s donations were illegal. When the Cunningham scandal first broke, Goode’s campaign gave $88,000 of MZM-linked donations to charities around the district, presumably to avoid any hint of impropriety.