Duncan resident sentenced for role in bribery scheme

OKLAHOMA CITY — Duncan resident Alfred Palma, 65, was sentenced last week for his role in a bribery scheme involving a Lawton hotel.

On May 3, 2023, a federal grand jury returned a 12-count indictment against Palma and Lawton businesswoman Candy Hanza, 51. According to the indictment, Palma, a United States Army employee and public official, was the manager of the Institutional Training Directed Lodging and Meals (ITDLM) program at Fort Sill, through which he booked hotel rooms for soldiers who attended off-post trainings. Hanza worked as the general manager of a local hotel in Lawton. The indictment alleges that Hanza paid Palma bribes to direct soldiers to Hanza’s hotel, according to a press release.

In July 2023, Palma and Hanza pleaded guilty to the bribery scheme. Palma pleaded guilty to receiving bribes totaling $103,200 from Hanza in return for favoring the hotel at which Hanza worked as general manager. Palma further admitted that he used the cash bribes to purchase money orders from Walmart, which he later deposited into his personal checking account, along with the checks that Hanza gave him. Hanza pleaded guilty to paying a bribe to Palma as a public official.

At a sentencing hearing on Jan. 25, U.S. District Judge Patrick R. Wyrick sentenced Palma to serve 29 days in federal prison, followed by 11 months in home confinement. Palma entered his plea to a public corruption charge in mid-June 2023, records indicate. He also had been charged with accepting a bribe as a public official.

In announcing Palma’s sentence, Wyrick emphasized the importance of general deterrence in public corruption cases, noting that when people in positions of public trust accept bribes then there is a cost to the government and to society.

Hanza was sentenced Jan. 19 to 18 months in federal prison for a count of bribery. She also will have two years of supervised release upon completion of her sentence.

Hanza pleaded guilty to one count of bribery and had 11 other charges of federal public corruption allegations dismissed on July 28, 2023. As part of the plea deal, the other charges of wire fraud and money laundering were dismissed at sentencing.

Hanza has told The Constitution she pleaded guilty in an effort to shield her employees as well as to expose the pressure there is to hold onto contracts. She said Palma pressured her to do “favors” during the pandemic.

When the pandemic hit, training soldiers were the majority of business for the hotel. This is where, she said, Palma knew the desperation of hotels for business.