Nine Pennsylvania Department of Transportation workers
are facing felony theft and bribery charges in connection with a
"massive" scam that allegedly netted the group close to $500,000
worth of overtime pay.
They were arraigned Wednesday in Montgomery County, not
far from PennDOT's District Six offices, where each defendant was based.
For nearly three years, seven highway inspectors
allegedly billed for hours they never worked and miles they never drove. They
are: Frank DiMichele, Geno Palmieri, John Cavanaugh, Joseph DiSimone, John
LaSpada, Chris Lauch, and Brandon Grosso.
A 10th highway inspector, David Betzner, also was
indicted by a grand jury and is expected to turn himself in by Friday after
making his way up from Florida.
Their managers – William Rosetti and Alex Morrone –
allegedly got kickbacks for looking the other way. Or, as, county Chief Deputy
Attorney General Erik Olsen put it, for "active encouragement and active
complicity."
Two consulting firms that have contracts with PennDOT
received more than $700,000 as a result of the phony overtime hours and the
profits connected to them for each consulting inspector.
All nine defendants left court Wednesday without
addressing reporters.
Attorney Brian Collins, who represents Lauch, said the
grand jury report sounds worse than it is.
"Mr. Lauch acted honorably and is going to come out
OK," said Collins. "He's an Army veteran, he's worked all his life,
he has five adult children, and he's a generally good guy."
The men are charged with theft by deception, bribery and
conspiracy, among other offenses.
If convicted, they would face lengthy prison sentences
and, with certain counts, automatically lose their state pensions.
All nine are out on $200,000 unsecured bail. A
preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 29.
Olsen wouldn't say if more arrests are coming, only that
his office's investigation is "nowhere close" to being finished.
"In this case, every door we've opened has led to
two to three other doors," he said.
A whistle-blower alerted the state attorney general's
Office to the scheme.
Source: Newsworks
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