A former Northern Westchester town employee has admitted to allowing a business owner to illegally dump unauthorized material at an environmentally fragile facility in exchange for cash bribes, federal officials announced.
Verplanck resident Robert Dyckman, age 52, and Cortlandt Manor resident Glenn Griffin, age 55, both pleaded guilty to charges related to the $2.4 million scheme, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Monday, Aug. 26.
According to federal officials, Dyckman, the former Assistant General Foreman for the Town of Cortlandt, gave unauthorized access to Cortlandt's Arlo Lane facility to Griffin, the owner, president, and principal of Griffin’s Landscaping Corporation.
During the scheme, which occurred from 2018 to February 2020, Dyckman permitted Griffin and his employees to dispose of numerous truckloads of materials, including thick concrete, cement with rebar, tiles, bricks, large rocks, and soil at the Arlo Lane facility.
Afterward, Griffin would then bill and receive payments from the Town of Cortlandt for removing and hauling away the same materials he illegally dumped, officials said.
Dyckman would give Griffin access to the facility on Saturdays or after working hours and clear senior Town of Cortlandt management away from the area around the dumping time.
He even arranged for a subordinate town employee to work overtime when Griffin was dumping his unauthorized loads. He then falsely recorded the overtime as having happened during the week to hide the scheme.
According to federal officials, Dyckman gave Griffin access to Arlo Lane in exchange for cash bribes.
According to US Attorney Damian Williams, the illegal dumping proved environmentally hazardous, as the Arlo Lane facility is located near fragile wetlands.
Due to their actions, the pair has been instructed to pay a combined total of $2.4 million to the Town of Cortlandt and the Westchester Land Trust.
The Westchester Land Trust owns the damaged wetlands next to the facility.
The money will be used for remediation and restoration of the property, according to officials.
Griffin pleaded guilty to charges related to an illegal dumping scheme and bid-rigging.
Officials stated that between 2015 and 2018, he defrauded the village of Croton-on-Hudson and the hamlet of Verplanck for work on their schools and fire department.
As part of the plot, Griffin would make sham, non-competitive, and inflated bids on behalf of entities he did not work for or authorized to do so. This way, he would be the low bidder in the pool and receive public money for the projects.
In total, Griffin was awarded contracts with a combined value exceeding $133,000 based on these fake bids, officials said.
Griffin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, each carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Meanwhile, Dyckman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, carrying a maximum sentence of five years.
They are both scheduled for sentencing on Thursday, Dec. 5.
Williams commented on the cases: "Today, thanks to our law enforcement partners and the dedicated prosecutors of this Office, Griffin and Dyckman have admitted to their crimes and must pay $2.4 million in restitution to their victims.
"Today’s pleas are a reminder that this Office will bring to justice any public official or business leader who defrauds the public and causes damage to our environment.”
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