Patrick McCrann, Bribery and Kickback Scheme, New York 2021

Brooklyn, NY – In a brazen act of corruption, two former managers of the New York utility company National Grid have been sentenced to prison for their participation in a years-long bribery and kickback scheme.

Patrick McCrann, 57, of Selden, New York, and Richard Zavada, 65, of Hicksville, New York, were sentenced by United States District Judge Carol Bagley Amon on October 21, 2021 in federal court in Brooklyn.

Mccrann and Zavada, who were employed in the facilities department of National Grid, steered contracts to certain contractors in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. The illicit payments took multiple forms, including cash, the purchase of recreational vehicles, home improvements, landscaping, and overseas vacations.

Agents recovered approximately $300,000 in cash from a safe deposit box held by Zavada as part of the investigation. The defendants each pleaded guilty to a violation of the Travel Act in October 2021.

Zavada was sentenced to a year and one day in prison, with a $10,000 fine and $330,735 forfeiture. McCrann was sentenced to a year and one day of prison, with a $10,000 fine and $200,000 forfeiture.

“Today’s sentence metes out just punishment to these bid riggers who accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks,” stated First Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn Pokorny. “This Office will continue to root out corruption that undermines the integrity of competitive bidding in the procurement process.”

Three other former National Grid managers, Devraj Balbir, Ricardo Garcia, and Jevan Seepaul, have previously entered pleas of guilty to accepting bribes from the Contractor and are awaiting sentence.

Related Federal Cases