Eric Goldstein, Extortion and Bribery, New York 2024

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Table of Contents

Former NYC DOE CEO and SOMMA Executives Convicted of Extortion and Bribery

A federal jury in Brooklyn has delivered a guilty verdict against Eric Goldstein, the former CEO of the New York City Department of Education’s Office of School Support Services, and three executives of SOMMA Food Group for their roles in an extortion and bribery scheme.

The verdict, which was returned after a four-week trial, found Goldstein and the three SOMMA executives – Blaine Iler, Michael Turley, and Brian Twomey – guilty of conspiring to commit extortion under color of official right and solicitation and giving of bribes relating to programs receiving federal funds.

The defendants each face up to 20 years in prison as well as forfeiture and restitution penalties when sentenced for their crimes, which include conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act extortion, Hobbs Act extortion, conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, federal program bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and honest services wire fraud.

‘The defendants’ criminal conduct is a textbook example of choosing greed over the needs of our schools and the well-being of our children,’ said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. ‘Our children depended on nutritious meals served in schools and instead, got substandard food products containing pieces of plastic, metal, and bones, which is unacceptable.’

The investigation into the scheme was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, and uncovered a complex web of corruption that involved Goldstein using his influence as head of SchoolFood to help the SOMMA executives in their business dealings before SchoolFood.

Goldstein, who was the CEO of SchoolFood from 2008 to 2018, was found to have used his position to expedite the approval process for SOMMA’s products and resolve disagreements between the company and SchoolFood officials in SOMMA’s favor.

The scheme came to light after a NYC DOE employee choked on a bone that had not been removed from a chicken tender supplied by SOMMA in the fall of 2016. SchoolFood subsequently stopped serving SOMMA’s chicken tenders, and the defendants’ scheme was exposed.