Newark, New Jersey – In a shocking turn of events, Edward O’Neill, 53, of Toms River, New Jersey, has admitted to conspiring to pay bribes of approximately $40,000 to NJ Transit employees to obtain snow removal contracts.
O’Neill, the president of PPW Contracting Inc. (PPW), a company that provided professional powerwashing and snow removal services for NJ Transit, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery in Newark federal court.
According to documents in the case and statements made in court, O’Neill and his vice president and secretary, Thomas Braden, 55, of Toms River, agreed to give a cooperating witness, an NJ Transit employee, $20,000 in exchange for assistance with securing the 2011-2012 snow removal contract for the Trenton, New Jersey, train station.
From September 2012 to April 2013, O’Neill and Braden agreed to give the cooperating witness another $20,000, with $8,000 of that going to an NJ Transit supervisor, in exchange for their assistance with securing the 2012-2013 snow removal contract.
O’Neill’s guilty plea comes after his vice president, Thomas Braden, pleaded guilty to bribery charges in December 2013. Braden is scheduled to be sentenced on March 25, 2014.
O’Neill faces a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing for O’Neill is scheduled for April 22, 2014.
The investigation leading to O’Neill’s guilty plea was conducted by special agents of the FBI and the New Jersey State Police.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Luria and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Monahan.
O’Neill’s defense counsel is Robert L. Galantucci Esq. of Hackensack, New Jersey.
Related Federal Cases
- Thomas A. DeLeo, Conspiracy to Commit Honest Services Fraud, New Jersey 2023 · New Jersey
- Carnell Baskerville, Conspiracy to Commit Extortion, New Jersey 2018 · Pennsylvania
- Antonio Teixeira, Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Tax Evasion, New Jersey 2024 · Vermont
- Curtis Whiteford, Bribery Conspiracy, New Jersey 2007 · Arkansas
- Joseph Arrigo, HUD Bribery, New Jersey 2023 · New Jersey
Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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