Home Philadelphia Press Releases 2010 Former PHA Employee Charged with Extortion
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Former PHA Employee Charged with Extortion

U.S. Attorney’s Office September 30, 2010
  • Eastern District of Pennsylvania (215) 861-8200

Kerri Bizzell, a former PHA employee, was charged today in a 22-count indictment with extortion and obstruction of a grand jury proceeding, announced Zane Dave Memeger.

The indictment charges that Bizzell abused her position as a manager of the PHA’s small repair and renovation contracts to extort kickbacks in return for the award of work. The indictment claims that over the period of about six months that defendant Bizzell held the position, she extorted and agreed to accept from two different contractors approximately $25,000. The indictment also claims that when she learned of the grand jury’s investigation, she attempted to prevent one of the contractors from disclosing payments to her, payments that she referred to in coded conversations as “sandwiches.”

INFORMATION REGARDING THE DEFENDANT

NAME: Kerri Bizzell
ADDRESS: Philadelphia
AGE OR YEAR OF BIRTH: 1969

If convicted Bizzell faces a statutory maximum possible sentence of 230 years in prison, a fine of $5,500,000, $2,200 in special assessments, and up to three years' supervised release.

The case was investigated by the FBI and by the HUD-Office of the Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Pamela Foa.

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