U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that ANTHONY PENN, SR., age 53, of New Orleans, was sentenced today after previously pleading guilty to Count One of an Indictment charging him with conspiring to receive kickbacks in a federal debris removal contract.
U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval sentenced PENN to three years of probation and one year of home confinement. Additionally, PENN was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $215,111.55 to Company A.
According to court documents, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hired Phillips and Jordan, a national construction firm, to manage the removal of storm debris from the City of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina devastated the metro area. After they were awarded the contract, Phillips and Jordan hired Company A, a local solid waste management company to assist with the debris removal project. Shortly after securing the contract, Company A hired ANTHONY PENN, a local businessman, to manage the debris removal project for them. After some time on the job, PENN approached the owners of Company A and asked if they would consider hiring his brother-in-law, KENNETH JOHNSON, as a sub-tier subcontractor to work on the project. The owners of Company A accepted the recommendation and hired JOHNSON’s company, KCJ Enterprises, as a sub-tier subcontractor. Sometime thereafter, PENN asked JOHNSON to provide him with a cut of the revenue that KCJ Enterprises was receiving from Company A as a reward for steering the contract to him. JOHNSON agreed to the scheme and wired a total of $236,461.55 in kickback payments to PENN from July 12, 2006, to February 8, 2008.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the United States Department of Defense, and the Internal Revenue Service in investigating this matter. The case was prosecuted Assistant U.S. Attorneys Spiro G. Latsis and Theodore R. Carter, III.