FIVE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE SUPERVISORS INDICTED FOR TAKING BRIBES IN EXCHANGE FOR DIRECTING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN MAINTENANCE WORK ON POSTAL VEHICLES TO A PRIVATE CONTRACTOR
Five indictments were issued yesterday by a federal grand jury in Detroit, separately charging five U.S. Postal Service supervisors with conspiring with a private contractor to take bribes in exchange for directing over $13 million in maintenance work on Postal Service vehicles to a private contractor in Ohio and Michigan, United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced today. McQuade was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Torri Piper of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) and Elizabeth A. Farcht, the Special Agent in Charge of the Postal Service OIG’s Eastern Area.
The five Postal Service employees charged are: Denny Robinson, 35, of Brownstown Township, Michigan; Bruce Plumb, 61, of Brownstown, Michigan; Gregory Gorski, 47, of Canton, Michigan; Jeffery Adams, 50, Copley, Ohio; and Mancer Holmes, 49, of Farmington Hills, Michigan. When the defendants took their bribes, Robinson was employed as a Supervisor at the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) Vehicle Maintenance Facility (“VMF”) in Detroit; Gorski was the Acting Manager of the USPS VMF in Ann Arbor; Plumb was the Acting Manager of the VMF for the USPS in Detroit; Adams was the Manager of the USPS VMF in Akron, Ohio, and Adams had previously served as a Supervisor at the VMF in Detroit; and Holmes served as a Lead Automotive Technician at the USPS Bulk Mail Center in Allen Park, Michigan, and he served as a Lead Mechanic at the VMF in Detroit.
Each indictment charges one of the five men with conspiring with a private contractor to accept bribes in the form of cash and other things of value in exchange for directing repair and maintenance work on USPS vehicles to the private contractor. The USPS maintains Vehicle Maintenance Facilities around the country, including in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Akron, Ohio. The five Postal Service employees charged today worked at these facilities, and they had the responsibility to decide whether work on Postal vehicles would be performed by USPS employees or sent out to private contractors. They also had the responsibility to decide which private contractor would be used for work sent outside of the USPS. Between 2004 and 2010, during the course of the conspiracies between the private contractor and the five USPS employees indicted today, the private contractor charged the USPS over $13 million for maintenance and repair work.
The bribes taken by the five defendants from the private contractor are summarized below:
Plumb accepted thousands of dollars in drinks and lap dances at a local strip club, over $8,000 in free work done on a truck belonging to Plumb’s grandson, and a $3,000 paver patio installed in Plumb’s backyard. In addition, on a weekly basis, Plumb used the services of a prostitute paid for by the private contractor. Plumb also accepted Levitra pills supplied by the contractor.
Adams accepted over $60,000 in cash bribes, a 1997 Chevrolet Malibu, thousands of dollars in free car parts and service work on cars, a $40,000 loan for the purchase of a condominium, tickets for games of the Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Pistons, and Cleveland Cavalier, golf outings, and a $4,000 heating and cooling unit for Adams’ house.
Robinson accepted over $65,000 in cash bribes, thousands of dollars in free service work on cars, a 2001 Chrysler Minivan, and a custom-modified, high-performance Ford Pinto.
Holmes accepted over $6,000 in cash bribes.
Gorski accepted $2,000 in cash bribes, a 1999 Pontiac Minivan, tickets for Detroit Pistons, Detroit Lions, and University of Michigan football games, and thousands of dollars in gift cards.
Upon conviction, each of the five defendants faces a maximum of up to five years in prison for conspiring to commit bribery. In addition, Robinson faces a maximum of fifteen years in prison on each of five additional counts of bribery. Holmes also faces up to fifteen years in prison on each of five additional bribery charges. Adams also faces up to two years in prison for two counts of accepting illegal gratuities. Gorski faces up to fifteen years in prison on each of four counts of bribery. Finally, Plumb also faces up to fifteen years in prison for each of two counts of bribery and up to two years in prison on a single count of accepting an illegal gratuity.
The indictments also seek forfeiture of the illegal payments received by the five Postal Service employees in connection with their bribery schemes.
United States Attorney McQuade said, “U.S. government employees hold positions of public trust, and they are responsible for managing public funds. Federal employees who personally profit by taking bribes in exchange for official acts will prosecuted.”
Torri Piper, Special Agent in Charge of the OIG’s Major Fraud Investigations Division said, “The Postal Service spends about $11 to $12 billion on contracts annually – an amount that provides opportunities for fraud. Special Agents from the Postal Service OIG aggressively investigate any such schemes to defraud the Postal Service.” This investigation began under the direction of Elizabeth A. Farcht, the Special Agent in Charge of the Postal Service OIG’s Eastern Area. Said Ms. Farcht, “These five postal employees, charged with managing multi-million dollar vehicle maintenance contracts, betrayed the public’s confidence in the Postal Service by taking bribes and kickbacks. Their criminal actions ultimately result in higher contract costs for the Postal Service. The OIG appreciates the efforts by the United States Attorney’s Office in bringing this scheme to an end.”
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case was investigated by agents of the Postal Service OIG. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David A. Gardey.
source: US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District, Michigan
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9YoriPCmgg[/youtube]
Bay Valley District had a stealing India manager named Balvinder Chada.
He was the Tour 2 manager of the motor vehicles dept.
He had his friends and relatives from India running delivery trucks as sub-contract drivers.
Then he signed off and double billed the USPS for extra thousands of dollars.
What a scam hat turban head wrap ran until he got caught.
That guy was a scam, and very dishonest from the beginning, and they promoted him!!!
No more Obama.
No good unions supporting the demon-crats.
Do you know where your dues money is going??
Anyone mention these outstaning graduates of the Bolger Academy are currently on PAID ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE? If they would have spread some of that cash around they would still be in business.
First a terrible clerk contract and now postal bribery WTF….why?…why?!
I wonder how much money and trips APWU union reps took for negotiating the new contract 2011-2015.
A 1999 Pontiac minivan as a bribe? Thats what makes postal managers unique among public workers that choose a life of crime: they’re cheap but not free. What a bunch of jackasses. Their audacity and lack of concern on getting caught point up the fact that they and many like them are unafraid of getting caught, and if they are it usually leads to, at worst, a slap on the wrist, but normally a transfer with promotion. I hope this is the beggining of the end of lying, cheating, mental midget sociopaths that infect the USPS management corp.
They need to investigate the nationwide contracting situation. I bet a lot more supervisors/managers would be in hot water. I know that at my processing plant in Charleston, WV; a certain person has been awarded contracts for almost as long as I have been a postal worker. The work this person does is shoddy at best and maintenance has to go behind and fix the work. I wonder how many lap dances or back decks were given in return. Maybe just a litle money under the table is all that is required.
haha crooked management. who woulda thought.
This is why the american postal workers are fighting for our jobs so many foolish people in management. Now more than ever they’re getting exposed and I am glad about it. People need to wake up and stop taking advantage of a situation thats not going to be worth your time or career in the long run. The investgators need to focus on watching all upper management and get those criminals out of office.
mdo humins gets lap dances from dawn every day at work, here at 11747
D B – now in D.C. – should be reviewed for stealing time and money tooooooooooooo(by the way he use to work at the the l i plant
A high performance Ford Pinto? That’s got to be a joke!
I GUESS THEY WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER POSTAL FACILITY OR PERHAPS EVEN GIVEN A PROMOTION OR BONUS AS USUAL! I’D BE SURPRISED IF THEY GOT ANY MORE THAN A SLAP ON THE WRIST BUT LET A CRAFT EMPLOYEE TRY THAT AND THEY WILL SURELY GO UP THE RIVER! WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN, AND WE WONDER WHY THE SHIP (USPS) IS SINKING!!!!!!!!!
Eugene Romano is currently the National Association of Letter Carriers shop steward in Belleville, NJ.
Benaquista and Fortunato both committed perjury by lying under oath during their depositions. Benaquista said, “I never took any money from anybody.” Bill Tinger came on my route with our shop steward, Peter Olivio, to advise me Benaquista had extorted $700 from him. Tinger cited his wife was home with an infant; and he hoped I could recover the much needed money because he was his family’s only income earner. Benaquista did not comply with my request; therefore, I reported the unethical manager. The married manager might have given the money to his girlfriend, another letter carrier as she expressed her displeasure with me for intervening. I should not have intervened when her husband, yet another letter carrier, wanted to confront Benaquista.
Fortunato testified she was not on the workroom floor when co-worker, Eugene Romano, of Bloomfield, NJ, threatened to do bodily harm to me and to kill me. Fortunato restrained Romano when he went ballistic. Joseph A. Della Ferra
Joseph Jezowicz of Jersey City, NJ, was a USPS supervisor who was also responsible for my wrongful termination by issuing disciplinary notices to me which were untrue. He is the nephew of then Newark, NJ Postmaster Thomas Utzinger. Jezowicz was found guilty in a U.S. District Court in Newark, NJ, of making a terroristic threat to another postal employee. According to the Court’s transcript, Jezowicz told Salim Ali, “I am going to kill you. You think you are a smart n—-r.”
The USPS paid off Salim Ali to keep him quiet. The agency has kept Jezowicz employed; and it has him in hiding for the past 10 years.
Submitted by Joseph A. Della Ferra Belleville, NJ
I reported USPS Manager Kenneth Benaquista, of Belleville, NJ, extorted $700 from Bill Tinger, a letter carrier 10 years ago. Unfortunately, Eric Lawson, the agent for the USPS OIG, investigated me instead of my allegations a year later. Benaquista was forced to retire as he was involved in other shenanigans. The criminal has been collecting $3,500 a month in pension benefits or nearly $440,000 in total.
Spouses, Deborah Fortunato and Stephen Sholander, of Nutley, NJ, became supervisors under Benaquista. The scheming couple attempted to fire me as retaliation. Arbitrator Sherrie Rose Talmadge sustained my grievance; and she returned me to work with full back pay after Fortunato and Sholander kept me from carrying mail for 10 months. The connivers cost the USPS about $50,000 for their stupidity. Management finally succeeded in wrongfully terminating my employment after 22 years as a letter carrier. I spent the last 17 years on the same delivery route. The liars stole my job and my pension.
I believe Benaquista should have forfeited his pension for his criminal acts. How does the USPS allow Deborah Fortunato and her husband, Stephen Sholander, to work together today at the Belleville Annex in Belleville, NJ ?
Submitted by Joseph A. Della Ferra Belleville, NJ
Great news. But it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Corrupt postal management should be afraid, very afraid.
The game has changed because losing billions attracts lots of attention. The gravy train is over.
United States Attorney McQuade said, “U.S. government employees hold positions of public trust, and they are responsible for managing public funds. Federal employees who personally profit by taking bribes in exchange for official acts will prosecuted.”
Fine…. but it would be nice if these same standards were applied to Congressmen and Senators doncha think?
I thought I taught them better than that