The Facts about Bob Asher's Criminal Record

On December 18. 1986. a 12-member jut)' in the U.S. Distric1 Coon for the
Middk Di.$U1cl "fJ'ennsylv""iu convicted Robert A~her on conspiracy. five counts of
mail fraud, four counlS oflnlersUlle transportation in aid of racteteenna and orJI.' count of
petjlll)'. The convictions came at the end of the thn:e-wrek trial of Asher and then SUlle
fmlSUreT R. Bud... Dwy"r. The: two men w,,", cluu-&ed in oonntC1ion wilh II S{;heme 10
elicit bri~ in return for helping a California company obtain a oo-bid SCTVice contracl
that would Mve needlessly cost PelUlJylvWlia 1.aXpayers millions of dollan. Dwyer, too.
was convicted of all tJlar¥cs in the trial.

On Janwuy 27, 1987, Judge Malcom Muir sen:mced Asher 10 one year and a day
in prison and fiocd hun $205,000. Dwyer committal .....icidc bofore hi~ sentencing

Immediately following his xntcnelng, Asher told reporters on the eounooWle

steps. HAs I said all along, I felt I never did anyt.hlnK impropcr.I 3tiU f""l the _ _ ~y
l()day." To this day, Asher continues to mal.:c this assmlon in the face of tile n:eord of his
conviction.

Th~ un mistakable C'onclusion fronl AlIher's stalCnltIlt is that tbe actions

detailed at b~ cri.1 ~presmled "businCSJ &!II usual in Bob AlIher'a",'orld.
M

Sct forth below i". swnmaryofthe f.ets of the CllSC sa; 5PClled out In blt.:k and
white in IhenNieial court records:

In 1983, shortly after he was elected chairman of the state Republican pany.
Ashec was conlaclW by William T. Smith. Esq., chairman oflhc Dauphin COIII'lly
Republican party. In response 10 Smllh'. mjllCSt for lSSistance, Asher sct up a meeting
between a repn::scnutive ofGovcmor Richard Thornburgh and John TDnjUllto. Smith'"
diml. TonpWo WlIJ Ill1 nfflCCrofCTA. Limited (eTA), a California CQfl1pany lhat
speclall:ted in recovering overpaid Social Seeurily (fleA) 1.aXes for businesses and their
employees.

Befon: meeting with the Oo\"('ITlOr's reprcsenlalive, Smith and Torquato met \11th
cr
Asher 10 eltpl'eSS their desire thai the 51.OIe award A a oo-bid contraetlO recover FICA
(lvecpaym.:;nto. Smith told Asher that ifC(A were awarded the conuacl company
officials were prepered 10 make a $jOO,OOO campaign contribll\ion. 10 be divided nmong
the Sl.Ole TrelUurer, the Treasurer'. re-eleetilln campaign and the Republican State
Committee..
 Efforts to persuade the governor to give the CQntract to CTA were unsuccessful.
Instead, state employees perfonned the stote's FICA rCCXl\lery work and completed the
laSk at a cost of approximately S200,000 10 the IaXpa)'Cl'S lU opposed to the S3.5 million
to $4.5 million that CTA would have charged ifit had secured the contract

Subsequently, a state law was proposed and passed that tnlnSfert'Cd the authority
to award FlCA recovery contracts from the governor' office to the State Treasurer. who
was lhen R. Budd Dwyer. In anticipation of the passage of this legislation. TorqUll!o
made a presentation 10 Dwyer in March of 19S4. outlining the benefits thai Dwyer would
realize if he awarded a FICA recovery con~ to CTA covering all the school districts in
Pennsylvnia. During thai meeting, Torquato or Smith suggested to Dwyer that substantial
contributions might be made to Dwyer's re-election campaign in exchange for the
contracl. About 10 days later Smith explicitly promised Dwyer S3OO,000 for the contract;
of thaI sum. ooo-third would be a payment to I)wyef- penonally, ooe-third would be for
Dwyer's re-clcetion commitlee and one-third would be for the State Republican
Commine<:.

DwyCl" gave his approval to the CTA contract and requested time to speak 10
Asher about the payment to the state commilloc. When Asher met with Smith and
Torquato several days later. Asher told them that they could no{ make any direct
payments to Dwyer. bul instead they must pay the entire S300,000 to the State
Republican Committee.

l"hereafter, Smith called Asher frequently to enlist Asba's help in the

ne8QIiations wilh Dwyer. Torquato also sent Asher copies of all his erA correspondence
in connection with the conU'alCI proposal. Ullimately. Dwyer awarded a oo-bid contmet to
CTA V>"Orth allllO$l $5 million despite the fact thllt a nationally known accounting finn
had submilled a proposal to perfonn the work for millions of dollar:s less than what CTA
was going to charge. l1le CTA oonlJlJCt was voided scveTal montlu later when Dwyer
learned that lhe FBI was investiplinll the mtIlter. After further proposals for the work
were submilted, the $Iltte awarded the contract to a large accounting finn that charged
substantially le:s!I than CTA would have received.

Dauphin COlOUy Republican Chairman Smith was one ofthll first participants in
the CTA bribery -'Cheme to be indicted. Asher appeared 115 a defense witness al Smith·s
trial and leslified as folloW:!l:

Q. Did they (forqlUlto and Smith) ~''er offir )IOu u co..trlbutlon ojSJOO,OOO In
r~lurnjOf'Mlping 10 pt 1M School Employus FICA rtco~ry ron/ract?

<Uhrr: No sir, lhey did nt)/.

Q. AI this ucond mUling, WQ.f thut any dlscuss;on ojcontribu/lolU /0 (fit Statt
Commilltt:?
 Asher:. To the best a/my recollrc/ion, Mr. CamJlI, no.

Q What WQuld htrt-e bern)'Our rraction hod there been such an offer mutk?

tUl!f!.: I would have /hro...·n them out on their rear.

A fcdcml grand jury concluded that Asher lied when he gave that teslimony al
Smith', trial and indicled him fO<' perjury. TIle trial jury agreed and convicted him on lhat
and all the other charges agairlSl him,

Following his conviction, Asher claimed that when he lold the CTA oovocales
thai they couldn't male paymenis direclly 10 0wyeT lhat he was "doing the right thing."
Had Asher used his innllCl1CC' to SlOp the bribery scheme allogClhcr that mighl be the
case. But he didn'l, he merely lold Ihe crA oovocales thallhey couldn't pay lilly ponion
of the $300,000 bribe 10 DwyeT pernonally; they had to pay all of the money to the
Republican Stale Committee which Asher conlrolled.

AshL'I" again assened his claim that he hadn'l done lIlIylhing wrong when he IlSked
Judge Muir in 1989 to reduce his prison sentence. 11Ie judge rejeclcd Asher', a.ssenion
outright, slaling:

"Asher's second ltriument is that he did 001 believe he was doing anylhing wrong
when hc suggesled that 8 polilical conuibution be made 10 his political patty's slalr;
commiltee. In making that argument. Asher is taking issue with the jury's finding of
guill. Therefore, we deem il to be without merit."

All the lestimony and evidenct: III bis trial made clear, Dob AlIher ne"er
expressed any concern lhAt tbe crA contnu:t represented A multi_million dollar rip
off nf Pennsylvania lupayus, 1.lj~ only ClineI'm wn controlling Ihe money Ihe
com pliny wu willing to pay 10 gel Ihal no-bid contraCI.

Asher appealed his case to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals which denied his
appeal by a 2 to 1 vole on luly 20, 1988, Asher then appealed 10 the Uniled SillteS
Supreme Court. which declined III bear the case rendering his conviclion final.

Asher paid his fine and served his prison sentence 81 the minimum SL'Cunly
faeilily in Lorelto. PA.

J. Federa.l G ....md Jury Indictment of Robert Asher

2. Judgmenl and ProbalionlCommitrnenl 0nkT for Robel1 Asbcr