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In the Courts
Third Circuit Affirms Issues Opinion Clarifying 'Official Act' in PA Bribery Case
On March 28, 2017, a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the conviction and 42-month sentence of Ronald Repak, the Executive Director of the Johnstown Redevelopment Authority (JRA), for violating two counts of extortion under the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951, and two counts of federal program bribery, 18 U.S.C. § 666. In its published opinion, the Third Circuit applied recent Supreme Court precedent in McDonnell v. U.S. to determine that Repak's actions constituted an “official act” under the federal bribery statute. Repak had accepted gifts and free personal contracting services from contractors who were working on JRA projects in exchange for awarding them JRA contracts.
Repak served as the Executive Director of the JRA's voluntary Board of Directors from 1977 to 2013. The JRA promotes economic development in Johnstown, PA, and is the recipient of federal and state funding. It awards grants to companies and to improve industrial properties. Though these decisions are made by the Board as a whole, testimony established that it was Repak as the Executive Director who made the majority of the decisions and who would recommend to the Board the companies that should be awarded contracts.
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