NY exec charged with bribing union official

subscribe

An executive who led what was once one of the country's biggest electrical wiring companies pleaded innocent to charges that he bribed a union official.

Former Petrocelli Electric chairman and principal owner Santo Petrocelli Sr. is accused of making secret payments for a decade to a representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The IBEW official was not named in the indictment, but other court papers identify him as Brian McLaughlin, an influential labor leader and state assemblyman who pleaded guilty last year to taking kickbacks.

Petrocelli smiled, but wouldn't speak to reporters after appearing before a judge at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. His attorney also wouldn't respond to questions.

Prosecutors accuse Petrocelli, 74, of Clark, N.J., of paying thousands of dollars in bribes to McLaughlin over a series of years in connection with projects that included his company's lucrative contract to maintain public streetlights. He is also charged with arranging for McLaughlin to get free use of a company car for two months in 2004.

For years, Petrocelli Electric was New York City's biggest street light contractor, but it was shut out of city work two years ago after city and federal officials began investigating corruption and bid-rigging allegations. The company's offices in Queens were raided by the FBI in 2006.

A woman who answered the phone at Petrocelli Electric said "Mr. Petrocelli has not worked for the company for some time," and hung up.

Rose Gill Hearn, the commissioner of the city's Department of Investigation, said "the charges expose the relationship between the contractor and union official for what it was — a long-running partnership of corruption."

McLaughlin still hasn't been sentenced.

Related News

andrea horwath

An NDP government would make hydro public again, end off-peak pricing, Horwath says in Sudbury

TORONTO - Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath says her party’s hydro plan will reduce families’ electricity bills and the NDP is the only choice to get Hydro One back in public hands.

Howarth outlined the plan Saturday morning outside the home of a young family who say they struggle with their electricity bills — in particular over the extra laundry they now have after the birth of their twin boys.

An NDP government would end time-of-use pricing, which charges higher rates during peak times and lower rates after hours, “so that people aren’t punished for cooking dinner at dinner time,” Horwath said…

READ MORE
siemens gamesa

Siemens Energy to unlock a new era of offshore green hydrogen production

READ MORE

california power lines

California's future with income-based flat-fee utility bills is getting closer

READ MORE

texas residents line up for water

Texas's new set of electricity regulators begins to take shape in wake of deep freeze, power outages

READ MORE

thermal plant

Thermal power plants’ PLF up on rising demand, lower hydro generation

READ MORE