70739615
U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Stengel last week sentenced a Pennsport resident to an additional 18 months in prison for lying about ticket fixing.
On July 23, a federal jury found Robert Mulgrew, of the 1900 block of South Galloway Street, guilty of committing perjury before a federal grand jury investigating his bilking of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. The latest announcement comes 15 months after the 57-year-old former Philadelphia Traffic Court Judge put in a guilty plea to committing mail fraud and filing a false tax return. He received a 30-month sentence for that matter, which stems from an investigation positing that he and co-defendant Lorraine Dispaldo, who received an 18-month sentence in November 2013, fraudulently received and misused Pennsylvania state grant funds designed to benefit nonprofit groups. With respect to Mulgrew, the state designated more than $450,000 to go to the Friends of Dickinson Square, of which he served as vice president, for equipment and materials purchases to maintain the group’s park space, Fourth and Tasker streets, and surrounding neighborhood revitalization.
The summer explanation stated Mulgrew misrepresented his intentions and used thousands of dollars to pay his relatives and associates. Authorities revealed he supplied DCED false and misleading information to conceal the actual amount of money that went to his kith and kin contrary to the express purposes of the grant. Mulgrew conceded he received almost $70,000 in grant funds for his own uses and improperly reimbursed himself from the Friends funds for thousands of expenditures that he incorrectly claimed the group incurred and for his expenditures not authorized under Friends grants. He did not report the additional income from the fraud scheme on his tax return and claimed false business deductions that improperly reduced his tax liability.
In imposing the additional time, Stengel noted the new sentence will run consecutive to the previously imposed term.
Contact Managing Editor Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
88118706
178433331
