Former President of Private Inspection Service Company Sentenced to Prison for Bribing Cherry Hill Official

CAMDEN, NJ—The former president of a private inspection services company was sentenced today to a year and a day in prison for bribing Anthony Saccomanno, the former director of the Cherry Hill Department of Code Enforcement and Inspections, in exchange for Saccomanno’s assistance in obtaining municipal contracts, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Russell B. McLaughlin, 57, of Chalfont, Pennsylvania, and formerly the president of Building Inspection Underwriters, Inc. (“BIU”), pleaded guilty on April 22, 2009, to an Information charging him with bribery. The defendant entered his guilty plea before the Honorable Renée Marie Bumb, who also imposed today’s sentence in Camden federal court.

According to the Information filed in this case and statements made in court:

McLaughlin admitted that as president of BIU—a private third-party inspection service company headquartered in Pennsylvania with offices in New Jersey—he personally gave a $5,000 cash bribe to Anthony Saccomanno, 67, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey. McLaughlin stated that on December 9, 2008, he met Saccomanno at a Cherry Hill restaurant for lunch. At the end of the lunch, McLaughlin gave the bribe to Saccomanno with the intent of influencing him to take official action to the benefit of BIU by throwing out all competing bids for a Cherry Hill inspection services contract, enabling a new round of bidding. Additionally, McLaughlin made or authorized corrupt cash payments to Saccomanno of $2,500 in September 2007, and $2,000 in July 2008.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Bumb ordered McLaughlin to serve three years of supervised release and pay $20,000 in fines.

In determining the actual sentence, Judge Bumb consulted the advisory United States 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.

Saccomanno pleaded guilty before Judge Bumb on June 16, 2009, to an Information charging him with mail fraud for devising a scheme to defraud the Township of Cherry Hill and its citizens of the right to his honest services in connection with his receipt of bribes from McLaughlin and a BIU employee. On March 11, 2010, Judge Bumb sentenced Saccomanno to 22 months in prison, and ordered him to pay $20,000 in fines and complete 200 hours of community service.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Philadelphia Division, South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk in Philadelphia, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge William P. Offord, for their assistance in the investigation.

The United States is represented in this case by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew J. Skahill of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.

Defense counsel: Catherine M. Recker, Esq., Philadelphia, PA