Respected, and award-winning NASA scientist Mark Schoeberl has pleaded guilty to a count of felony conflict of interest today for directing thousands of dollars of sole-source contracts to his wife’s firm. His wife’s company Animated Earth displays near real-time earth science data on rotating globes.
Schoeberl was the chief scientist at Goddard’s earth science division, and won several awards, including the agency’s highest honor, for his work over the more than 20 years that he was with NASA. He was past president of the Atmospheric Sciences Section of the American Geophysical Union and has written more than 150 articles in atmospheric science journals.
The guilty plea accepts the charge that he guided more than $190,000 of funds to his wife’s firm for various contracts, including a visualization project for the Aura mission, which studied the Earth’s ozone layer. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 1, and could bring a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
More details on the trial can be found at Government Executive.
