The inspector general for the Department of Defense found one such bad deal in a contract overseen by Hill's Ogden Air Logistics Center for depot maintenance work on older KC-135 refueling tankers. (The KC-135 uses the same air frame as the old Boeing 707, and the Air Force bought its last KC-135 in 1965.)

Ogden had won a contract in 1998 that included maintenance work on KC-135s, which it subcontracted to the Boeing Aerospace Support Center in San Antonio.

In May 2001, Boeing asked for $119 million more than had been included in contracts and revisions. Six months later, Ogden officials and others agreed to give Boeing $35.8 million of that request.

That was still $4.5 million too much, according to the inspector general report obtained by the Deseret Morning News.

The report says that records show that "Druyun's influence hurried the outcome of the settlement of the contract price." Ogden and other officials were told that the request had to be settled within six months.

That did not give the Defense Contract Audit Agency time to fully review the request, investigators say. So Ogden officials approved a settlement based on partial information.

When the DCAA review was completed soon after, it showed the settlement likely should have been reduced "by another $4.5 million," the new report says.

Inspectors blame not waiting for such final numbers mostly on Druyun's influence but add that Ogden officials said they moved quickly "because of the large number of KC-135 aircraft needing depot maintenance" and because they felt it would reduce the "risk of Boeing pursuing litigation against the Air Force."

Inspectors also complain that the contract revisions approved by Ogden included a clause that Boeing possibly used to further overcharge the government.

It allowed Boeing to charge without prior approval for any extra work on KC-135s that took less than 75 hours to complete. Inspectors said Boeing "appeared to split contract tasking into work units smaller than 75 hours, presumably to avoid having to justify the reasonableness of the work" to the Air Force.

The new report notes that the contract was later transferred from Ogden to the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, which canceled the last two years of the contract and made what inspectors said were numerous improvements to ensure fair pricing — including removal of the 75-hour threshold for work without prior approval.

Because of findings in the new report, the Defense Department inspector general recommends that no future contract revisions be finalized until the the Defense Contract Audit Agency issues its final report and evaluation on proposed price increases.

The newly acquired report was dated May 16, 2006 — the same month that Boeing agreed to a settlement to pay $615 million in penalties for contract misdeeds. The deal allowed Boeing to avoid prosecution if it abides by ethics and monitoring conditions for two years.

A spokeswoman for Hill Air Force Base and the Ogden Air Logistics Center said they had no comment on the report obtained by the Morning News.

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com