Former fugitive sentenced to prison

John C. Curtiss spent the past 21 years posing as an Australian, sailing his 60-foot yacht in the Bahamas and returning occasionally to live and work in Florida.

But the former defense contractor and longtime fugitive will spend the next few years behind bars for his 1988 convictions on 21 charges stemming from the sale of inferior equipment to the government and for fleeing.

Free on bond, he failed to appear for his sentencing in Richmond on May 23, 1988.

Yesterday -- in custody and in shackles -- he showed up, and U.S. District Judge Richard L. Williams sentenced him to 16 years and two months in prison on three of the original 21 charges and for failing to appear.

Williams also ordered Curtiss to pay $183,934 in restitution.

The tan that Curtiss sported when returned to the U.S. in March was gone.

Dressed in a two-piece, gray-striped jail uniform, Curtiss, who used a cane and appeared somewhat hobbled, told Williams, "I really don't have anything to say, your honor."

But, he added, "the one thing that concerns me is my medical problems."

The sentence Williams imposed was more than twice as stiff as that sought by the government. Because the crimes occurred before federal parole was ended in the late 1980s, he could be eligible for release in 74 months.

His medical problems were not spelled out, but Williams, in sentencing Curtiss, recommended he serve his sentence at a prison in Butner, N.C., with medical facilities.

Before sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney John S. Davis told Williams, "This is a man who devoted his life to crime. . . . Mr. Curtiss has stolen from his own country." He said Curtiss had shown no remorse.

Curtiss sold counterfeit and substandard electrical contact brushes to the government that were used in submarines, aircraft and other military equipment. At the time, he had been barred from doing business with the government and sold the parts through a front company.

The government said the parts could have caused fires and endangered the lives of service men and women.

He was convicted by a jury and allowed to remain free on bond pending his sentencing in 1988.

"But just before the scheduled sentencing hearing, Curtiss obtained several pre-approved credit card offers, obtained cash advances and fled the country," according to the government.

"The son of wealthy parents, with every educational opportunity, Curtiss turned early to predatory behavior. In 1963, at age 19, Curtiss was convicted of felony burglary," the government said in a sentencing memorandum.

"Curtiss' two-plus decades as a fugitive were extraordinary," the government said. "By his own account, Curtiss had 'a good time' . . . and earned money developing, building and selling 'energy devices,' which he claims he copyrighted."

"By his own account, Curtiss left behind in the Bahamas assets worth more than three quarters of a million dollars. . . . Justice has been too long delayed," argued the government, asking that he be sentenced to a total of seven years.

O. Michael Powell, the former Defense Criminal Investigative Service agent who investigated the case, also was in the courtroom yesterday.

"I'm really pleased at the sentence. . . . It really sends a message to contractors out there" who might consider cheating the government, he said.

Contact Frank Green at (804) 649-6340 or .