A former Schofield Barracks master sergeant pleaded guilty today to accepting thousands of dollars in kickbacks relating to a scheme he devised while deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2005.

Ronald J. Radcliffe pleaded guilty to bribery and money laudering charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren. Radcliffe, 43, faces a prison term of 15 years on the bribery charge and 20 years for money laundering when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Ezra on Feb. 8.
Radcliffe was indicted in April on 12 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, bribery and money laundering. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in May, but entered a change of plea today.
Federal prosecutors said Radcliffe used his position as supply officer at Forward Operating Base Warrior in Kirkuk, Iraq, to steer contracts to Metin Subasi, a Turkish national who did business with the Army. In exchange for the lucrative contracts, Subasi paid Radcliffe kickbacks and bribes, the indictment said.
The scheme began in January 2004 and ended in February 2005, the indictment said. During that time, Radcliffe sent some of the cash to his girlfriend in Hawaiçi for safekeeping because he did not have a bank account in Iraq, the indictment said.
In letters to his girlfriend, Radcliffe instructed her to deposit the money in small increments to avoid detection by the Internal Revenue Service, the indictment said. Radcliffe admitted in court that he received at least $37,600 from the scheme, according to U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni.