United States v. Ralston, Middle District of Florida
On April 19, 2001, businessman Roger H. Ralston pled guilty to conspiracy and bribery. Ralston is the president and owner of three companies, including Ralston Communications, Inc., a business that sells video-conferencing equipment. From early 1998 until May of 2000, Ralston engaged in the bribery scheme described above with two officials of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, Carl Stewart and Christopher Muratore. The purpose of the scheme was for Ralston to make cash payments to Stewart and Muratore in return for their taking official action to influence the purchase of products from Ralston’s companies by federal courts. Ralston was sentenced on September 25, 2001, to five months of community confinement, 36 months of supervised release, and 100 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $276,200.
