Ex-PBS&J boss sentenced to home confinement

BY PATRICK DANNER AND DAN CHRISTENSEN

pdanner@MiamiHerald.com

Former PBS&J Chairman Richard A. Wickett was sentenced Friday to six months home confinement for his role in a long-running scheme to subvert campaign-finance laws.

Before sentence was passed, Wickett implicated the engineering consulting firm's current boss in the scandal.

Wickett, who pleaded guilty in October to two counts of violating federal campaign laws, was also put on probation for three years, fined $40,000 and ordered to serve 600 hours of community service.

In passing sentence, U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro rejected the government's recommendation that Wickett be sent to prison for 18 to 24 months.

''Justice prevailed. It's good to see,'' Wickett said after the sentence. Before learning his fate, Wickett apologized to the court for his crimes.

In court papers filed in advance of sentencing, Wickett alleged that it was his superiors -- including current Chairman and CEO John Zumwalt -- who authorized reimbursing employees for political contributions. Wickett, also PBS&J's longtime CFO and treasurer, claimed responsibility for cutting and distributing reimbursement checks.

But assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Rochlin said in court that the government has no evidence Zumwalt was involved in the illegal reimbursement scheme.

A PBS&J lawyer denied it, too. ''John Zumwalt did not approve any campaign reimbursements,'' said Mark Schnapp.

New court filings by prosecutors provide fresh details, including that the ''fraudulent activity occurred in federal campaigns across the nation'' and ``affected campaigns for numerous state offices inside and out side of ... Florida.''

Wickett said the scheme began in the 1980s and continued into 2004.

Court filings identified a third politician, U.S. Rep. Don Young of Alaska, as the recipient of a $500 contribution in 2003 from a PBS&J manager who was later illegally reimbursed by the company.

The reimbursement request was presented to Zumwalt, and Wickett requested the check, Wickett says in court papers. U.S. Sen Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican, and former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, a Georgia Democrat, were previously identified as having received illegal contributions from PBS&J's executives.

The Wall Street Journal reported last July that Young, a Republican who is Alaska's lone House member, is under criminal investigation by the Justice Department for his involvement with an Alaska oil services company whose employees have contributed more than $150,000 to Young's campaigns since 1996.

Government court filings cite other illegal campaign contributions by PBS&J executives, but prosecutors did not identify those who made them or the politicians who got them.

Prosecutors have alleged the practice of making illegal campaign contributions was ''institutionalized'' at PBS&J and was done to increase its chances of winning government contracts, though company representatives have denied it ever won contracts because of the contributions.

Three PBS&J officials have been convicted in the scandal. Former CFO W. Scott DeLoach received two years in prison in July for using ''straw-men'' to illegally contribute $11,000 to Martinez's 2004 campaign. DeLoach's sentence runs concurrently with an eight-year prison term for his part in embezzling millions from PBS&J. The embezzlement, which lasted more than a dozen years, spawned the investigation into the campaign donations.

H. Michael Dye, who served as PBS&J's chairman and chief executive from 2000 until his retirement in 2002, pleaded guilty to filing false statements in August and was sentenced by Judge Alan Gold to a year's probation with six months of home confinement and fined $20,000.

The government wanted Wickett to get 18 to 24 months, but Wickett argued that he was less involved in the scheme than Dye.

From the bench, Ungaro sided with Wickett and indicated she believes prosecutors got it wrong when sizing up who was more responsible.

''I think Mr. Dye's sentence was unreasonably short,'' Ungaro said.

Wickett succeeded Dye as chairman. The mantle of chief executive went to Zumwalt, who became chairman in 2005 when Wickett retired.

PBS&J has stated in regulatory filings that it has cooperated with the U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI and doesn't expect to be charged. Meanwhile, the Federal Elections Commission in October launched its own investigation into the illegal campaign contributions and improper use of political action committees at PBS&J.

Wickett pleaded guilty to conspiring to make false statments with the FEC and conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. Prosecutors allege that PBS&J employees were directed to claim false mileage expenses as a way to be reimbursed for political contributions.

In seeking the lighter sentence, Wickett pointed the finger at Dye and Zumwalt for the illegal acts that occurred at PBS&J.

'Richard Wickett did not devise those institutionalized practices at PBSJ, and he lacked the authority to `approve' reimbursements, which resided with Mr. Dye from 1990 to 2002 and thereafter with Mr. Zumwalt,'' according to court papers filed last week by Wickett.

Schnapp, who had not seen Wickett's court filing, refuted the charge that Zumwalt was involved. ''It has been fully investigated already by the FBI,'' Schnapp said.

Wickett's lawyer, Neal Sonnett, said, Zumwalt's role was brought up to show that Wickett wasn't authorized to approve checks. ''My purpose was not to dump on Zumwalt,'' Sonnett said.

PBS&J is an employee-owned company founded in Miami in the early 1960s. It moved its headquarters to Tampa in 2006, but employs about 300 in South Florida.