NEPA News: "Leaders such as Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and former Gov. Tom Ridge instructed McGeehan to 'shake trees' to bring new businesses to the region, McGeehan said, and he did that by traveling and hosting parties at which he could network.
Read about the fat cats in the comments or click the link above.
I have a no problem with fat cats in the private sector but they don't sit well in my view in the public sector.
I remember the Pittsburgh Ben Franklin center -- and how worthless they were as I approached them. I was there on a number of instances and was always left with a bad impression.
I had also been to the small business incubators in Evanston, Illinois with Northwestern Univ. too. The contrast was real. These pretentious characters are part of the continual decline of the Pittsburgh business climate.
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Former technology center executives sentenced to prison
By ALLISON SCHLESINGER, Associated Press Writer, The Associated Press March 15, 2005
Two former top executives at a state-funded economic development agency were sentenced to 34 months in prison for misusing millions of dollars in state and federal money to fund trips, spa retreats and other perks.
Lawrence McGeehan, the former president of the now-defunct Ben Franklin Technology Center, and Kathleen Haluska, the center's former vice president, were sentenced to prison Tuesday plus three years of supervised release. Together, they must pay more than $1.6 million in restitution to the center, now operating under a different name, and the U.S. Navy.
McGeehan, 53, of Brownsville, and Haluska, 53, of Brownsville, could have faced up to more than five years in prison, but U.S. District Judge David Cercone called the guidelines too harsh.
Haluska's attorney, Thomas Livingston, asked Cercone to sentence his client to home detention with a work-release privilege so she could begin to pay restitution and care for her family, but the judge refused.
Livingston refused to comment after the hearing. Haluska and McGeehan's attorney, Stephen Begler, indicated they would appeal the sentences.
McGeehan was convicted in August of 20 counts of fraud. Also in August, Haluska pleaded guilty to fraud.
The center was a nonprofit corporation that administered contracts for the state government and U.S. Navy to pay contractors and administrators. McGeehan and Haluska, who were indicted in April 2003, diverted $1.4 million in Navy funds that were supposed to be used to research national defense projects, prosecutors said.
Then-Auditor General Robert P. Casey Jr. in 1999 released a report that said center executives spent money "trying to mimic the 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.'"
The state audit _ and later federal prosecutors _ accused McGeehan and Haluska of taking trips to Japan, Ireland, China and other places and sometimes inviting family members on the trips. They also threw unnecessary and extravagant parties, including one at an expensive spa, prosecutors said.
Haluska and McGeehan undermined all the checks and balances the center had established to prevent the misuse of funds and fired employees who questioned their management, said Assistant U.S. Attorney James Y. Garrett.
"(They) rode that organization into the ground," Garrett said.
Before he was sentenced, McGeehan called himself an "honorable man" who worked hard to bring technology and business to western Pennsylvania.
Leaders such as Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and former Gov. Tom Ridge instructed McGeehan to "shake trees" to bring new businesses to the region, McGeehan said, and he did that by traveling and hosting parties at which he could network.
Haluska did not make a statement before her sentencing, but Livingston said her life had been filled with volunteer work since she was fired from her executive position about six years ago.
The Pittsburgh center was one of four Ben Franklin centers in the state. After McGeehan and Haluska were fired, the agency changed its name to Innovation Works and began operating under a new plan.
Haluska and McGeehan must report to prison by April 11.
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