Published: October 16, 2007 11:32 pm      

Air Force official found dead

A high-ranking Air Force official involved in a controversy that included a local company was found dead Sunday at his Virginia home.

Charles D. Riechers, 47, principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisitions, was found dead of an apparent suicide, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. The Post said an Air Force memo said the cause of death was unknown pending an autopsy, but there were no obvious signs of foul play.

Riechers was the subject of an Oct. 1 article in The Washington Post examining his employment at Richland Township-based Commonwealth Research Institute, a nonprofit that conducted intelligence work for the Air Force. CRI is a subsidiary of Concurrent Technologies Corp.

The story said that, last year, while waiting to be confirmed for his current position, the Air Force arranged a job for Riechers at CRI but said he did not work for the firm. Instead, Riechers said he worked for Sue C. Payton, assistant Air Force secretary for acquisition.

CTC Vice President Ed Sheehan told The Tribune-Democrat when the story broke that Riechers was working through CRI on a project of “a sensitive nature’’ for a “final deliverable (product)” to the Air Force. In that sense, Sheehan maintained, Riechers was working for the Air Force.

The Post article said Riechers, who spent two months as a senior technical adviser for CRI, earned $26,788 between late November and the end of January. The story raised concerns among contracting experts about the arrangement as well as the nonprofit status of CRI and CTC.

The Post said an anonymous source said Riechers came under pressure last week over a procurement program he oversaw to provide maintenance for a fleet of refueling tankers.