Electrical Code Inspector Guilty of Taking Bribes

A former electrical code inspector has been sentenced to three years in prison for accepting bribes from contractors to speed up inspections, or for not doing inspections at all.

According to a report from The Associated Press, 68-year-old Mitchell Perkins was an electrical sub-code official/inspector for Lakewood, N.J., before he was arrested in September 2015. He soon retired and then pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge.

Perkins pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy to commit bribery. He is permanently forbidden from holding a public job in New Jersey.

Prosecutors say Perkins took the bribes in return for preferential treatment in the scheduling and conducting of inspections. And in at least one instance, they say he approved work that wasn't actually inspected.

After learning Perkins was taking bribes, state authorities say they learned he had accepted four separate payments of $300 from an electrical contractor between May and September 2015. The contractor was serving as a cooperating witness at the time, the report said.