St. Det Florida's Bost Newspaper x Qitampabay.com Defense firm is raided by feds The St. Petersburg defense contractor says it doesn’t know what the investigation is about, Syne vemuee Sf PFERSBURG — Ree ape cy icy ld Gon nas Sap Tatars cnr pos ‘iapmc eye ear tcebetae Cotes on ssn use dsr dy sag tan Deniticnageccraenseemcaag Sewanee Sr lt wee en to Sar ‘what all they're after,” general manager Chet Sein ted Angry ra "Suh were progeny Ona aaa ay Serotec cay eo eiSiaeeem acecnee ant ersburg Times “Thuraday, July 16, 2000 | 508est patraburg Ties | Thursday, Juy'6 2009 1 7A » CONAX continued from 1A Agents raid local defense contractor eriuocagen ete Ti a a epg a8 contsbutlons that Conaxand its then confers with the Defense MSpcualvcdigaions worth 32 llson snd $24mml- to Youngs campaign fom 2006 pareatcompanyhavegieain, Departmen. ee, Fe aren ioe: And inthe current bud- 102006 adding up tomorethan “My support wasfor what the “took ines 08 fa th ots ofa ee Pee negoations bes secking $6000 Canon hie donated Army needed. and this was a the Defense Departmen st, ‘mentof Ranspertton. Stnillon fora "be ensioning” §400%n otal, ‘ompang that bad prove team "Yeah we really need that then Sa ee aeere prooke Haris, redrintatemfor Ar orceai- Young said there is no rela-prvidelt be said. ‘well do that esa agent with the Defense Crim craft platforms. tiomauig between the earmaris "In deciding to seek an ear- Young su twas hard to sty SEE en ead Seve Coax employees ave bes seared and the poli mark, he reviews the proposal, how serious the mater I unt ongoing fvestiation. She the details emerge but aga SEATS comet on he Bhat hatte compan ee fe agents were at Coo foe “nat bert owe fo mak dng saftey devices, icing ie Donatenonpr Nw Dreservers that automatically eetconbercetmer Et wit re ‘fee or STS Fred horas ores er Freeones my Inspaecrat and rocket. The Ie sapot branch rons [ie fors eants sch a estate and eect seat com ‘Cons ie the official, lal ‘name of Cobam Life Support Systems, Claudon said. It is & Avision of British defense con- ‘racor Cobham ‘Caudon anticipated being, backinbusines tod. Tin an interview Wednesday, US. Rep. CW. Bil Young, Re Indlan Shores, said he knows the ‘company wel and that i has 8 Fetped secure milion of dol Jars in federal contracts for the ‘company. "The company moved its head- quarters fforn Buffalo, NY, to Pinellas County in 1988. n 1987, the Navy awarded Conax an {$2 millon contract to produce 31,000 explosive devices that fre used ty automatically inate {plots fewest when it enters ‘eater, At the time, the Depart ‘ent of Defense credited Conax ‘ulpment with helping save the les of 180 Navy and Air Force ‘pltssinoe 98. “Were worklng with NASA? president Larry Thomas Peterburg Times in “They want to provide life forthe space shuttle, patter they want touselndudes our eqlpment It willbe some type of device that eps the astronauts afloat in the event they have another ace dent” 181999, the company won 8 {$15 millon Navy contact parnchutehares. "in 2007, Conax received a ‘srsmilion contract to provide ‘Sat belt ats or Amy Homrecs. ast year, Conax was awarded 2 g9b million Department of Defense contrat le support esuipment Young gt the com pany $4 million for a restraint ‘patem and another §24 milion for similar equipment, records show