NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced a businessman to three years of probation for orchestrating a kickback scheme involving government funds supposed to be used for cleaning up New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The New Orleans Advocate’s Jim Mustian reports that on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval ordered Anthony Penn to serve a year of home detention and pay more than $200,000 restitution to Metro Disposal, a local waste management company that had hired him to manage a subcontract it received to clear storm debris from the ravaged city.
The disaster cleanup was administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Penn pleaded guilty to the conspiracy more than two years ago. He admitted the payments had been "strictly unlawful" and did not represent consulting fees.
