NEWS

ALBUQUERQUE, Nov. 14, 2003 (Summary of Associated Press Article) - A former Halliburton employee admitted to selling 2,400 shoulder-launchable missile warheads to a Canadian man in New Mexico. The warheads were manufactured by Halliburton subsidiary, Jet Research Center (JRC). The buyer of the warheads, David Hudak, said the sale was initiated by Halliburton just before Halliburton sold the JRC subsidiary to Tennessee-based Accurate Arms Co. in 1994. The sale of the warheads was finalized after Accurate Arms became the owner of JRC. The Halliburton employee who sold the warheads, Mitchell Hambright, said Halliburton encouraged the sale even though he knew it was illegal. On the same day Halliburton finalized its sale of JRC to Accurate Arms, a fax cover sheet from a Halliburton official to one of Hudak's companies refers to a pending sale of explosives as a "blue light special" and directs further inquiries to Accurate Arms. Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall denied the company sold warheads to Hudak. She confirmed the company sold legitimate demolition devices to Hudak, but not warheads. Although the federal government filed charges against the buyer, Mr. Hudak, his attorney complained that Halliburton was not charged for selling the warheads. He said, "It's ironic that Halliburton is not incriminated in any way [by prosecutors] or finds itself in any conspiracy charges." Mr. Hudak, who claimed he didn't know it was illegal to purchase the warheads, was eventually acquitted of all charges.