08-25-05 -- Parkin, Harry G. -- Sentencing -- News Release

Former Mercer County Chief of Staff Sentenced to 90 Months In Prison for His Corruption Conviction

TRENTON - Harry G. Parkin, former chief of staff to the Mercer County Executive and former member of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, was sentenced today to 90 months in federal prison for defrauding the public and Mercer County government of their right to his honest services by corruptly using his official position to advance his concealed financial interests in a recycling company that had a $14.5 million contract in Mercer County, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

U.S. District Judge Garrett E. Brown, Jr., also ordered Parkin, 61, of Robbinsville, to pay a $26,000 fine and serve a three-year term of supervised release upon his release from federal prison.

Parkin was convicted on March 21, 2005, on all 13 charges against him: 12 counts of mail fraud and one count of attempted extortion. The case was tried by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Bocian and Jeffrey S. Chiesa.

"This is a long and appropriate prison sentence," Christie said. "Harry Parkin was the consummate insider and double-dealer, who used his position and influence to serve himself as he professed to serve the public."

Judge Brown ordered that Parkin be under 24-hour house arrest, and return to court tomorrow to determine when he must begin serving his sentence.

In reaching the guilty verdicts, the jury found that Parkin schemed to deprive the public of his honest services in several ways: by concealing a $150,000 loan that he made for the benefit of Central Jersey Waste and Recycling (CJWR), a Hamilton company that collected recyclables from Mercer County residents; by working to steer demolition contracts in order to protect and advance his secret financial interests; and by attempting to obtain an ownership interest in CJWR through extortion.

According to testimony, in September 2000, Parkin, then chief of staff to the Mercer County Executive, discussed with Alex Abdalla and James Lambert his desire to obtain a secret one-third ownership interest in CJWR, which was in the first year of a five-year, $14.5 million contract in Mercer County. Parkin sought to partner with Abdalla, the owner of CJWR, and Lambert, the former executive director of the Mercer County Improvement Authority, in his efforts to acquire his secret ownership interest in CJWR.

Parkin suggested that he and Lambert each purchase a one-third ownership in CJWR. To conceal his interest, Parkin planned to have two-thirds of the stock placed in Lambert's name, with Parkin nonetheless maintaining his one-third beneficial ownership and being, in effect, a secret partner, according to trial testimony and evidence.

Evidence presented at trial revealed that Parkin routed a $150,000 loan to CJWR through a marble and tile company owned by a relative of Abdalla in order to conceal the fact that he made the loan. Parkin also drafted numerous documents to disguise the true nature of his financial interest in the company. To further conceal the loan, Parkin intentionally falsified mandatory financial disclosure forms for the year 2001 and failed to file the disclosure forms in 2002. Evidence presented at trial included tape-recorded conversations of Parkin, including a conversation in which Parkin stated that, because of his position with Mercer County government, he would take steps to conceal the fact that he made the loan to CJWR. For example, during a conversation recorded in June 2001, Parkin stated that "you're not going to see my name anywhere, and that 's the way we're leaving things."

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Parkin used his position as chief of staff to steer and attempt to steer demolition contracts to companies owned and operated by Abdalla. The evidence included recorded conversations during which Parkin discussed ways in which he could financially assist Abdalla so that Abdalla would be in a financial position to partner with Parkin. The projects included demolition of dilapidated buildings near the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, and for a redevelopment project at the Mercer County airport, valued at approximately $1 million.

In addition, evidence showed that Parkin pressured others in an effort to coerce an ownership interest in CJWR for himself, Lambert and Abdalla. Parkin threatened to rescind the county-wide recycling contract from CJWR and attempted to use the threat of a State Police investigation in order to further his goal of obtaining an ownership interest in CJWR, according to trial testimony and evidence.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Brown consulted the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leslie Wiser, Jr., and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Patricia J. Haynes, for their agencies' respective roles in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David A. Bocian and Jeffrey S. Chiesa, of the Special Prosecutions Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

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Defense counsel: Harry G. Parkin, Esq. Pro Se