Public Corruption in the United States

Analysis of a Destructive Phenomenon

Jeff Cortese

• Verlag: Routledge
• Jahr: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000582611
• Auflage: 1
• Thema: Politik & Internationale Beziehungen
• Thema: Politische Korruption & Fehlverhalten

Public Corruption in the United States provides a comprehensive view of public corruption, including discussion on its types, methods, trends, challenges, and overall impact. It is the first book of its kind to examine in plain language the breadth of criminal public corruption in the United States, not just at a superficial level, but in a deeper context. By critically examining acts of corruption of elected, appointed and hired government officials (legislators, law enforcement, judges, etc.) at the local, state, and federal levels, the reader gains insight into the inner workings of corruption, including its relationship to terrorism and organized criminal networks.

Using simple language and easy-to-understand examples, this book is about empowering investigators, compliance professionals, educators, public officials, and everyday citizens who seek to better serve, support, and protect their communities and their country.

Part I

Identifying Corruption

Chapter 1The Basics What is Corruption?

DOI: 10.4324/9781003197447-3

Context is key when trying to understand corruption. Its application, connotation, and interpretation vary by perspective and discipline. In its broadest use, which is more of an abusive oversimplification used most frequently by politicians and pundits, it is a term used to describe a political enemy or opponent; however, a more precise application is in the identification of behavior resulting in criminal liability.

In recent years, the academic, economic, political, and social implications of corruption have gained greater attention in the United States, but this newfound mindfulness has not resulted in an authentic and accurate understanding by those most impacted by corruption. This increased awareness has come in large part from the increased popularity of emotionally charged ad hominem attacks leveled by political types against their political opposition. The intensity and frequency of the claim increases the public’s sense of corruption in leadership, but it does little to actually educate people on what corruption is, what it looks like, and the stench it leaves behind.

Repeatedly witnessing intense and passionate claims of corruption without observing any consequences or accountability, undermines citizen confidence in the government. To partisans, claims of corruption are merely a political weapon, but to those outside of politics, it is personal. Every act of corruption makes victims of the people that politicians and government officials are supposed to serve. So, the more corruption is alleged without consequence the less citizens believe the government is working on their behalf and the more rampant they believe corruption has become, making the war on corruption far more difficult. People have to believe corruption can be rooted out if they will take the steps necessary to assist law enforcement in their effort to combat it. Less confidence equates to less assistance. Less assistance equates to less law enforcement effectiveness. Less law enforcement effectiveness equates to more corruption.

In simplest terms, corruption is the abuse of one’s office or position for personal gain. It is the exercise of entrusted power or influence within any hierarchical structure in exchange for an illicit benefit. The risk of corruption ultimately exists anywhere power and/or influence determine the distribution of resources or the outcome of decisions. Sometimes it is the absence of a decision that is sought, as opposed to a decision in favor of one thing or another. It can be sufficiently useful to have someone in authority “look the other way” as opposed to taking overt action. For example, paying a city fire inspector to ignore safety violations, or paying a Customs and Border Protection officer to not stop a vehicle traveling through a point of entry at one of the nation’s border checkpoints. In criminal investigations, proving that the inaction of an individual constitutes corruption and not incompetence can be difficult, but it is not impossible.

History has proven corruption to be as old as any government, industry, organization, tribe, union, or club. Royal families, democratic governments, dictatorships, businesses, and religious organizations all contain hierarchies, and all hierarchies are susceptible to internal acts of corruption whereby illicit means are used to elevate one’s place within the hierarchy. An example might be when someone bribes their boss or a person higher in the hierarchy with acts of intimacy, an expensive gift, or something else of value in exchange for a promotion. A bribe is the illicit payment made in exchange for a benefit. There is no hierarchy that is immune to the threat of corruption. As long as there are people on different levels of the hierarchy, there will always be people willing to engage in illicit behavior to elevate themselves within that hierarchy.

Sometimes, however, corruption exists between hierarchies. This could include any number of scenarios, but two common examples would be business-to-business and business-to-government. Business-to-business corruption could manifest in bid rigging or price fixing schemes whereby businesses illicitly coordinate to manipulate prices or the market in some other way. Business-to-government corruption is when a business bribes a public/government official with something of value in exchange for some benefit.

The deliberate act of corruption, regardless of type, merely requires someone with sufficient access and motivation. These corrupt motivations are most frequently propelled by a narcissistic desire for money, fame, sex, power, or the perception of power and influence over individuals or decisions.

Public corruption (also referred to as government corruption) occurs when an elected, appointed, hired, or contracted public official (government official) abuses his or her public office or government position for personal benefit, or when another person corrupts or attempts to corrupt a public official or government office. Public officials engaging in criminal activity outside of their official capacity are not engaging in corruption. For example, mortgage fraud committed by a law enforcement officer whereby no official act was committed by the officer in furtherance of the fraud is not corruption, at least in the criminal sense. It is fraud committed by an individual who happens to be a law enforcement officer. However, if the same law enforcement officer agreed to “fix” future moving violation citations received by the mortgage underwriter in exchange for her looking the other way on mortgage application discrepancies, that would be an act of public corruption.

Fun Fact: Some states have defined their Homeowner’s Association (HOA) board members in a way similar to other public officials in their respective states. As a result, the FBI can investigate HOA board members in those states as if they were like any other public official, subject to applicable federal criminal statutes.

Forms of Public Corruption

Criminal corruption involving public officials in the United States most frequently includes at least one of the following three forms of corruption: bribery, extortion, or embezzlement.

Bribery is the offering of something of value to a public official in exchange for an official act, quid pro quo (“something for something” or “this for that”). Something of value can include cash, campaign contributions, tickets to sporting events, collectibles or art, plane tickets, home upgrades and renovations, prepaid credit cards, access to credit lines or debt, dinners, poker chips, and other types of entertainment funds, vacation packages, etc. Sex itself is not deemed a “thing of value” when considering elements of federal bribery and extortion statutes. If money is paid for a prostitute, then the money could be a “thing of value,” but not the sex act itself. This, however, is at the federal level, and not necessarily true when charging state level violations.

Example: In 2019, attorney Noe Perez and state District Judge Rodolfo Delgado from South Texas were convicted in federal court for their involvement in a decade’s long bribery scheme whereby the judge accepted cash in exchange for providing Perez with “favorable judicial consideration” on criminal cases. Despite having already been charged, Judge Delgado was voted by local constituents onto the state’s 13th Court of Appeals. He resigned following his conviction. Judge Delgado was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison.¹ Noe Perez was a cooperator in the investigation and was sentenced to 24 months.²

Extortion, according to 18 U.S.C. § 1951 (Hobbs Act Extortion) in the Federal Criminal Code and Rules, is “the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence or fear or under color of official right.” Despite the fact that the threat of violence or coercion exists in an extortion, any completed act of extortion results in both sides of the corrupt arrangement being susceptible to prosecution. Federal law holds both parties accountable for their involvement in the extortion. The extortionist (demander) and the compliant briber (willing participant) can both be charged criminally for a single act of extortion. Under circumstances where sex is demanded by the public official in exchange for an official act or through the use of fear or coercion, charges other than federal bribery and extortion would need to be used.

Example: Between 2007 and 2011, Arkansas parole/probation officer Roxanne Davis accepted cash from Torrence Turner who was on parole related to a first-degree murder conviction. Davis demanded the money in exchange for not enforcing the conditions of Turner’s parole. Davis pleaded guilty to one count of extortion under color of official right (18USC 1951) and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.³

Embezzlement is the theft of funds by a public official from a government entity.

Example: In 2010, former Virginia Secretary of Finance John Forbes was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for embezzling $4,000,000 from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission (VATIRC). The VATIRC was created to promote economic growth in tobacco-dependent areas within Virginia. Forbes was able to embezzle the money by creating the Literary Foundation and subsequently winning a $5,000,000 grant on the basis the money would be used for education related purposes. Only approximately $100,000 was used for its stated purpose. The remaining was syphoned for personal use by Forbes and his wife.⁴

Fraud and kickback schemes are most common when private corporations engage in government contract work. Fraud, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, can encompass any crime for gain that uses deception as its principal modus operandus. Some element of fraud is often present in public corruption. Fraud against the government is the intentional concealment or deliberate misrepresentation of material facts in order to entice the government, to their detriment, to give up property, money or something else of value. Kickbacks, a type of bribe, are the illicit payments made by a company to a public official after the awarding of a government contract. A kickback can be paid in a single lump sum or in installments over weeks, months, or years.

Nepotism and conflicts of interest are forms of corruption that by themselves may or may not constitute criminal corruption. Nepotism is the hiring of a family member or someone close to the family instead of the most qualified applicant. Conflicts of interest involve the personal or familial financial gain or benefit, or potential thereof, directly tied to policies, decisions, or influence as a public official. For example, a public official having regulatory oversight responsibility over an industry in which a family member owns a company. Although not necessarily indicative of criminal corruption, nepotism and conflicts of i...