DWP SCANDAL FINALE: PRISON FORMER EXECUTIVES RECEIVE SENTENCES.Byline: BETH BARRETT Staff Writer Capping a nearly yearlong case that grew out of a sweeping investigation into City Hall corruption, a federal judge on Tuesday sentenced two former Fleishman-Hillard executives to prison for padding bills by more than $500,000 to clients including the Department of Water and Power. Doug Dowie, a political power broker and head of the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. office of the prestigious public-relations firm during former Mayor James Hahn's administration, was sentenced to 42 months for conspiracy and wire-fraud charges. John Stodder, 51, his right-hand man, was sentenced to 15 months for the same crimes. Dowie, 58, continued to maintain Tuesday that he did nothing wrong and has been financially ruined after a lifetime as a ``model citizen.'' ``I'm innocent. We'll file an appeal,'' Dowie said immediately after the sentencing, which included a $15,000 fine. Stodder, who sent a letter to the court admitting wrongdoing wrong·do·er n. One who does wrong, especially morally or ethically. wrong  do , said afterward, ``I'm feeling fine.'' His lawyer, Jan Handzlik, said a decision hasn't been made on whether to appeal. U.S. District Judge Gary Allen Feess, calling actions by Dowie and Stodder an abuse of trust, recommended incarcerating them in a low-security federal prison camp in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . Both are to report to custody at noon March 30. Feess singled out Dowie for relentlessly pushing subordinates, including Stodder, until they committed crimes while he insulated himself by not looking at the bills they fraudulently inflated. The judge said Dowie, a self-styled tough ex-Marine, used intimidation, ridicule and humiliation when he needed to satisfy corporate demands on the L.A. public-relations office. ``Mr. Dowie was going to use those techniques if that was what was needed to hit those numbers. He talks about battlefield honor, ... but loyalty is a two-way street from commander to grunt, and from grunt to commander,'' said Feess, whose father was a Marine. Feess said Dowie has failed to come to grips with his actions and has displayed a ``degree of cynicism'' that Feess has seldom encountered. Dowie takes brunt Feess said he believes Stodder succumbed at least in part to ``human frailty'' and has since come to terms with his crimes. ``(Dowie) pushed on John Stodder, and John Stodder made a big mistake by not pushing back. It's not so inexplicable,'' Feess said. Feess said he agreed with defense attorneys that Fleishman-Hillard officials in St. Louis may have pressured Dowie to reach certain financial targets, but that there was no evidence he was asked to do anything improper. ``That's why moral compasses are important. When there's a storm you need to find north. ... Apparently that wasn't working in this case,'' he said. Asst. U.S. Attorney Cheryl O'Connor Murphy said the government was generally pleased with the sentencing although prosecutors had sought tougher sentences. The men committed the crimes despite every advantage of upbringing, education and position, prosecutors had argued. ``They had every opportunity going for them, and they still chose wrong,'' Murphy said. Feess said mitigating factors were both men's clean prior records, their history of service to the community and the low risk of recidivism recidivism: see criminology. . Those were weighed against the seriousness of the crimes and the deterrence message to other would-be white collar criminals. The sentences of the widely known men brought mixed emotions and renewed calls for clean government. ``It is very sad that it had to come to this, and it's a reminder that good people can go astray a·stray adv. 1. Away from the correct path or direction. See Synonyms at amiss. 2. Away from the right or good, as in thought or behavior; straying to or into wrong or evil ways. and that there are consequences when they do,'' said City Controller Laura Chick. It was Chick, in the summer of 2002, who initially questioned the DWP's $3 million-a-year contract with Fleishman-Hillard. Company paid Richard S. Kline
Richard S. Kline directed and produced many game shows through the '70s, '80s, and '90s. , Fleishman-Hillard's general manager in Los Angeles, noted that the company paid nearly $6 million to settle an overbilling lawsuit with city government and was not a defendant in the criminal case. ``We regret improper bills were presented to several of our Los Angeles clients, and we again apologize to the citizens of Los Angeles,'' Kline said. Dowie, a former managing editor of the Los Angeles Daily News The Daily News of Los Angeles, also known as the Los Angeles Daily News, is the second largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is published by the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, which owns eight other Southern California newspapers , and Stodder were convicted by a federal jury May 16 after a five-week trial. Dowie had faced up to 240 years in prison; Stodder, 225 years. Tuesday's sentencing came after nearly four hours of detailed questioning over the methodology used by FBI Special Agent Dane B. Costley, a former certified public accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) An accountant who has met certain standards, including experience, age, and licensing, and passed exams in a particular state. , to determine how much the executives overcharged the Los Angeles DPW DPW n abbr (US) (= Department of Public Works) → ministerio de obras públicas and other clients. While the judge conceded that some of the calculations -- which put Dowie's responsibility at $522,000 and Stodder's at just over $300,000 -- may have been flawed, he said prosecutors had proved their case. Another former Fleishman-Hillard executive, Steve Sugerman, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a deal with prosecutors. He was sentenced last September to three years of probation and 250 hours of community service. Neither Dowie nor Stodder took the stand in their trial as prosecutors called more than a dozen witnesses to bolster e-mails and billing records that they claimed showed a conspiracy to defraud To make a Misrepresentation of an existing material fact, knowing it to be false or making it recklessly without regard to whether it is true or false, intending for someone to rely on the misrepresentation and under circumstances in which such person does rely on it to his or the DWP DWP Department of Work and Pensions (UK) DWP Drinking Water Program DWP Dynamic Weapon Pricing (gamin, Counter-Strike: Source) DWP Department of Water & Power DWP Drinking Water Protection and other clients. E-mails key evidence After the verdict, jurors said they were convinced by the accumulation of evidence. That included an exchange of e-mails Jan. 6, 2003, when Dowie asked Stodder how much they could ``pad'' the DWP account with ``ambiguous counseling'' for Hahn and two former high-ranking utility officials. The charges grew out of a broad investigation into whether Hahn's administration engaged in ``pay-to-play'' practices. That probe also resulted in the indictment in August of former Airport Commissioner Leland Wong, 49, of San Marino San Marino, city, United States San Marino (săn mərē`nō), residential city (1990 pop. 12,959), Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1913. Of interest is the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. on charges of bribery, conflict of interest, perjury perjury (pûr`jərē), in criminal law, the act of willfully and knowingly stating a falsehood under oath or under affirmation in judicial or administrative proceedings. and embezzlement embezzlement, wrongful use, for one's own selfish ends, of the property of another when that property has been legally entrusted to one. Such an act was not larceny at common law because larceny was committed only when property was acquired by a "felonious taking," i. . Wong has pleaded not guilty. Wong, accused of receiving $100,000 in 2002 from an executive of the Taiwanese firm Evergreen Shipping, served on the Airport Commission at the time and voted on a contract for the firm. In the Fleishman-Hillard case, none of the prosecution witnesses testified that Dowie specifically told them to defraud the utility, but they said his instructions to find more money after billing periods had closed left them no choice. Former executives also testified they were asked to inflate inflate - deflate bills, or had their accounts written up without their consent, for the Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is located on San Pedro Bay in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, approximately 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown. Also called Los Angeles Harbor and WORLDPORT LA , Worldwide Church of God This article or section has multiple issues: * It may contain original research or unverifiable claims. * It needs additional references or sources for verification. * Its tone or style may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. and architect Frank Gehry's firm. Feess said he, too, was convinced by the evidence. ``There was a scheme to defraud, led by Doug Dowie,'' he said. beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3731 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Former P.R. executive Doug Dowie was convicted of overbilling the DWP. (2) STODDER |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion