A former engineer with JEA, Jacksonville, Fla., charged with bribery in a deal to sell construction materials from a city yard to a contractor pleaded guilty to bribery March 28 in federal court, according to court documents. Thomas William Allen, 44 at the time of his arrest in 2011, faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.
Allen was an upper-tier engineer in charge of the electrical portion of subdivision development and a JEA engineer since 1994, according to the utility. An FBI complaint filed in October in federal court stated Allen went to the president of Hinson Electric and said his wife had lost her job. He told James Hinson he was in financial trouble and would sell him material from the JEA yard in exchange for $20,000, according to the criminal complaint. Hinson contacted the FBI, which recorded conversations and meetings between the two men. Hinson was given $63,881 worth of PVC piping, electrical boxes, and manhole covers for $10,000 and an agreement for $10,000 more, according to the court complaint. The items were sent to an FBI storage facility after Hinson employees picked them up.
No sentencing date for Allen has been announced.
Read the story at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2012-04-06/story/ex-jea-employee-pleads-guilty-bribery-federal-court#ixzz1rZyrhOzA