Posted on 01/26/2010 6:51:16 PM PST by Born Conservative
Former Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak pleaded guilty today in federal court to accepting multiple payoffs from a developer who obtained a government-subsidized loan through a county authority.
Skrepenak, 39, pleaded guilty to accepting $5,000 for voting to approve the $1.1 million loan, which The Citizens’ Voice has tied to the Insignia Point Courtyards project in Jenkins Township.
Insignia Point Courtyard was developed by Anthony J. Trombetta, the president of Intellacom Inc., a technology company whose dealings with two local school districts, a career and technical center, and the county’s community college are under scrutiny from federal investigators.
Skrepenak, the 23rd person netted in an ongoing corruption probe, faces a maximum 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but will likely spend 33 to 41 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.
"I have to hold myself accountable for what has happened," Skrepenak said in court.
Skrepenak was released on his own recognizance. He is scheduled for sentencing May 12.
* Read the charges * Read the plea agreement
He entered his plea exactly one year after the first charges in the corruption probe, against former Judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan, who were accused of pocketing $2.8 million in kickbacks from the backers of a pair of juvenile detention centers.
Skrepenak, a former University of Michigan All-American and NFL offensive lineman, resigned from the county's board of commissioners last month and has agreed to cooperate in investigations of wrongdoing by others. That cooperation could win him a shorter sentence under the agreement.
Federal prosecutors said Skrepenak accepted the $5,000 payment from a developer seeking approval for a Tax Increment Financing plan for a project in Jenkins Township. Under the plan, developers receive loans to install infrastructure for their projects and the county, school and municipal property taxes they pay are used to retire the loans.
Sometime around January 2008, Skrepenak made a motion and voted to approve the plan, prosecutors said, and he accepted “a benefit worth $5,000” from the developer sometime around April 2008.
According to county records, the only TIF plan in Jenkins Township approved by the commissioners in or around January 2008 was for Insignia Point Courtyards.
In April 2008, Skrepenak purchased a condominium in another Jenkins Township complex developed by Trombetta, according to county property records. He paid $278,654.
The charge against Skrepenak is the second filed in connection with the $1.1 million TIF loan for Insignia Point Courtyards. Earlier this month, former Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority Director Allen Bellas pleaded guilty to accepting a $2,000 bribe in connection with a project The Citizens’ Voice has previously identified as Insignia Point Courtyards.
The redevelopment authority manages the application process for the loans, but they must be approved by the county, school district and municipality whose tax revenues are dedicated to paying off the loans.
Another former county official facing bribery charges, former deputy chief county clerk William Brace, was named by the commissioners in September 2007 to coordinate the Insignia Point Courtyards loan plan with the Pittston Area School District and Jenkins Township.
Brace has pleaded guilty to accepting a $1,500 tailor-made suit from an unnamed county contractor between June 2007 and May 2008. He and Bellas face likely sentences of four to 10 months in prison.
The partially completed Insignia Point Courtyards is a $12 million, 43-unit development being built across South Main Street from Insignia Point, the Trombetta-developed complex where Skrepenak lives.
Intellacom Inc. has been the focus of federal subpoenas served on the Wyoming Valley West School District in July, on the Luzerne County Community College in May and on the Pittston Area School District in April, district and college officials said. The first has also been tied to a scheme involving inflated prices and kickbacks at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center.
The firm has been paid about $2.6 million by the institutions for work on computer and security systems since 2003.
Two Pittston Area officials have pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from unnamed school district contractors. No charges have been filed at Wyoming Valley West or the community college.
Jeffrey Piazza, a former career and technical center administrator who once worked at a restaurant owned by Trombetta, pleaded guilty last month to accepting thousands in kickbacks from a school technology contractor from June 2006 to February 2009. Intellacom received more than $1 million from its dealings with the school during that period.
Busy news week in NEPA....
Yes, it’s “D”.
ping
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