The Legal Intelligencer Blog

Mulgrew's Co-Defendant Sentenced for Fraud Charges

By Saranac Hale Spencer
Of the Legal Staff

Lorraine Dispaldo, co-defendant of suspended Philadelphia Traffic Court Judge Robert Mulgrew, was sentenced today in federal court to 18 months in prison.

Dispaldo had pleaded guilty in April to charges related to a scheme to defraud the state Department of Community and Economic Development out of state grant funds awarded to nonprofits.

A former administrative aide to state Representative Bill Keller, D-Philadelphia, Dispaldo had been charged along with Mulgrew in allegedly steering to improper purposes much of the $397,000 awarded to Community to Police Communications to purchase communications equipment for the police as well as to protect law enforcement officers by purchasing materials to secure vacant lots and buildings, as well as $460,000 awarded to the Friends of Dickinson Square to maintain the square and the surrounding area.

“Dispaldo helped orchestrate the scheme to fraudulently receive and misuse Pennsylvania state grant funds awarded to nonprofit groups,” according to a press release issued today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Paul L. Gray, of that office, prosecuted the case, according to the release.

Catherine M. Recker of Welsh & Recker represented Dispaldo.

In addition to the prison term, Dispaldo was ordered to pay a special assessment of $3,600 and restitution of $120,865 by U.S. District Judge C. Darnell Jones II of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Mulgrew has yet to be sentenced.

Saranac Hale Spencer can be contacted at 215-557-2449 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @SSpencerTLI.

Traffic Court Legislation on Its Way to Governor

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

The Pennsylvania Senate unanimously approved the enabling legislation that would eliminate the Philadelphia Traffic Court in the wake of the latest ticket-fixing scandal within that body.

The Senate had already passed the bill but today concurred in two amendments made in the House of Representatives.

State Senator Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, the majority leader of the Senate and the sponsor of the legislation, said “it is past time to do away with this institution,” citing several past instances of criminal cases arising out of the court and the most recent criminal case in which several current and former Traffic Court judges were charged by federal prosecutors with ticket-fixing. Three judges have pled guilty. Six have entered pleas of not guilty.

When Governor Tom Corbett signs the bill into law, the elections for three Traffic Court judges scheduled for this year will be canceled, Pileggi said.

The legislation would create a traffic division within Municipal Court, would create two new Municipal Court judges to adjudicate any Traffic Court cases involving jail sentencing, and would provide that the one judge who is still sitting and has not been charged criminally would be phased out.

Legislators also have approved a second bill that would eliminate the constitutional authority for the Philadelphia Traffic Court if the legislation passes again in 2014 and then is approved by Pennsylvania voters in 2015.

Amaris Elliott-Engel can be contacted at 215-557-2354 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @AmarisTLI.

Trial Date Set in Traffic Court Ticket-Fixing Prosecution

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

The federal judge presiding over the criminal cases of the Philadelphia Traffic Court judges charged with fixing tickets has scheduled their trial for November 12.

U.S. District Senior Judge Robert F. Kelly of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania entered an order setting trial last week. Kelly also scheduled all pretrial motions to be heard October 28.

Three judges have pled guilty to charges related to ticket-fixing, but have not been sentenced yet. Only one of the judges has explicitly agreed to cooperate as part of his plea deal.

Suspended Traffic Court Judge Robert Mulgrew, who took the bench in 2008 and is already facing charges for an alleged scheme to defraud the state Department of Community and Economic Development, is set to go to trial in a separate criminal case June 5.

Amaris Elliott-Engel can be contacted at 215-557-2354 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @AmarisTLI.