Expand / Collapse search
☰

Man sentenced to 15 months for Portland parking meter bribes

Published  February 10, 2016 7:10pm PST
Associated Press



PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Florida businessman who bribed his way into winning multimillion-dollar contracts to supply Portland's parking meters has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.

George Levey pleaded guilty last year to honest services wire fraud for paying bribes to Ellis McCoy, manager of Portland's parking operations division.  McCoy was sentenced last year to two years in prison for accepting the bribes.

U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez said Wednesday he considered the city official to be more culpable that Levey, "but not by much."

Prosecutors also recommended Levey get a sentencing break because he cooperated with a similar investigation in Chicago and testified before a grand jury.  He told authorities there he paid $90,000 for information that helped him submit the winning bid for a $22 million contract.