A former Schofield Barracks master sergeant pleaded guilty yesterday to accepting thousands of dollars in kickbacks relating to a scheme he devised while deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2005.

Ronald J. Radcliffe yesterday pleaded guilty to bribery and money laudering charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren. Radcliffe, 43, faces a prison term of 15 years on the bribery charge and 20 years for money laundering when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Ezra on Feb. 8.

Radcliffe admitted in court that he received at least $37,600 from the scheme, according to U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni.

Radcliffe was indicted in April on 12 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, bribery and money laundering. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in May, but entered a change of plea yesterday.

Federal prosecutors said Radcliffe used his position as supply official at Forward Operating Base Warrior in Kirkuk, Iraq, to steer contracts to Metin Subasi, a Turkish national who did business with the Army. In exchange for the lucrative contracts, Subasi paid Radcliffe kickbacks and bribes, the indictment said.

The scheme began in January 2004 and ended in February 2005, the indictment said. During that time, Radcliffe sent some of the cash to his girlfriend in Hawaii for safekeeping because he did not have a bank account in Iraq, the indictment said.

In letters to his girlfriend, Radcliffe instructed her to deposit the money in small increments to avoid detection by the Internal Revenue Service, the indictment said.

Radcliffe was assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry (Light) at Schofield Barracks before his deployment to Iraq.

Myles Breiner, Radcliffe's attorney, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The case was investigated by the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Silverberg prosecuted the case.