THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509230308
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
No one familiar with the case can remember the last time a NASA scientist was hauled into court to face criminal charges related to laboratory work. But on Friday morning, retired NASA Langley Research Center physicist Ronald A. Outlaw found himself standing in U.S. District Court facing Magistrate Tommy E. Miller.
Under the terms of a plea agreement between federal attorneys and his lawyers, Outlaw pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of conflict of interest, which could mean up to one year in federal prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Pending the outcome of a Dec. 8 sentencing hearing, Outlaw is free on his own recognizance.
The offense: funneling $34,000 in government money to a company half-owned by Outlaw, a company set up to commercialize an invention that he developed in the last decade of a nearly 40-year NASA career. The device, known as a hyperthermal oxygen atom generator, simulates conditions found in low-Earth orbit, enabling scientists to gauge the effects on spacecraft materials and structures.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan M. Salsbury said the retired physicist illegally steered contracts to DACO Technologies, the firm Outlaw co-founded in 1992 with then-graduate research assistant Mark Davidson. He did this three times between January 1993 and January 1994, court records show.
Davidson, now at the University of Florida, was not named as a co-defendant.
Outlaw's attorneys declined requests to interview their client.
``I don't want to make any comment,'' said lawyer Robert C. Nusbaum. ``We'll wait until the sentencing hearing. Anything that's said in the meantime could be misconstrued.''
Outlaw arrived at NASA in 1956, a year before the Russians launched the Sputnik satellite, which ignited the space race and the massive expansion of NASA budgets and programs. By the time Outlaw retired, during a NASA-wide employee buyout in March of this year, the space agency was in the throes of restructuring and downsizing.
In the past several years, technology trade shows held at Langley have touted the center's research expertise and its in-house ability to commercialize that research. Outlaw's invention would seem tailor-made for NASA's and Langley's emphasis on technology transfer.
Although the agency is moving to commercialize more of its research, NASA Langley director Paul F. Holloway said there are rules and procedures that must be followed. Hearing of Outlaw's plea, Holloway said that he was ``kind of shocked.''
In revisions to laws concerning what's known as ``intellectual property,'' Congress has allowed government scientists to profit from inventions made while drawing a federal paycheck. There are restrictions, however, on how employees receive the bounty of their brains.
Entirely prohibited is influence peddling, or actively affecting the outcome of licensing arrangements with personal profits in mind.
``The intellectual property area is one of primary interest to the government,'' Holloway said. ``It's something that's not going to be abused.''
A yearlong investigation into Outlaw's activities concluded by July. Both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and NASA's Inspector General offices were involved.
According to the complaint, on two separate occasions Outlaw saw to it that DACO received what the government calls ``non-competitive'' contracts, together worth about $34,000, for further testing and development of the oxygen generator.
A proposed $60,000 contract to advance the project further was made by Boeing's Defense and Space Group. Outlaw stymied the bid, preventing Boeing from pursuing the matter.
The government could have pursued a felony conviction, which carries a five-year prison term and a fine of up to $250,000. Nevertheless, said Salsbury, the decision was made to file the lesser charge.
``The charge itself reflects the seriousness of the offense,'' he said. ``We are satisfied that prosecuting the case as a misdemeanor will adequately deter others from engaging in similar conflicts of interest and afford protection to the public.''
There has been no monetary loss to the government, Salsbury added. And, according to Langley director Holloway, the oxygen generator is one NASA needs and wants for its space research.
The future of the device and of the company Outlaw founded will probably hinge on the outcome of the December sentencing. by CNB