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Maine Men Plead Guilty in Scheme to Bribe Government Official
PORTLAND, ME—United States Attorney Paula D. Silsby announced that Paul M.
Hurlburt, 37, of Kennebunk, Maine, and Robert J. Subilia, 58, of Wells, Maine, both entered
guilty pleas today before Judge D. Brock Hornby in Federal District Court in Portland to charges
of conspiracy relating to a scheme to bribe a government official formerly employed by the
United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) in Huntsville, Alabama. In
addition, Hurlburt pled guilty to a separate charge of scheming to defraud the government by use
of wire transactions. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Hurlburt is the son-in-law of Maurice Subilia, who pled guilty on February 2, 2009 to
charges relating to bribery of government officials at the SMDC and of conspiring to launder
funds derived from defrauding the government. According to court documents, Hurlburt was
aware that Maurice Subilia had been making payments to Michael Cantrell, the then director for
the Joint Center for Technology Integration at the SMDC, to influence Cantrell’s actions on
contracts between SMDC and companies Subilia and Hurlburt operated. At his father-in-law’s
request, Hurlburt paid Cantrell $50,000 in June of 2004. Court documents further reflect that
Hurlburt defrauded the government in 2005 through transactions conducted by Vicus
Technologies LLC, a company partly owned by Hurlburt and where he served as president.
[more]
Pursuant to a contract between Vicus and SMDC, SMDC paid $420,000 to Vicus for goods, a
substantial portion of which were never delivered to SMDC. The conspiracy charge was filed
against Hurlburt in federal court in the Northern District of Alabama, and at the request of the
parties was transferred to Federal District Court in Maine for a guilty plea and sentencing
together with the wire fraud charge, which was filed in Maine.
Court documents further indicated that Robert Subilia, Maurice Subilia’s brother, also
was aware that his brother was making payments to Cantrell to influence action on contracts.
Robert admitted that, at his brother Maurice’s request, he used two companies he formed called
Bocasal and MBP Realty to write several checks to various parties working on the construction
of a home Cantrell was building in Huntsville. These payments were made during 2004 and
2005, and totaled just over $300,000. Robert Subilia also admitted that at his brother’s direction
he paid nearly $40,000 to a son of Cantrell. Cantrell’s son has not been accused of any
wrongdoing. The conspiracy charge against Robert Subilia was filed in the Northern District of
Alabama, and at the request of the parties was transferred to Federal District Court in Maine for
the guilty plea and sentencing.
United States Attorney Silsby praised the joint investigative efforts of the United States
Department of Commerce, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation in Maine and Alabama, and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as the
cooperative efforts of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama.
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