3 Indicted in Janitorial Services Bribery Case

Three former employees of a janitorial services company have been indicted on federal charges they conspired to bribe a public official for contracts in DeKalb County and the Georgia World Congress Center.

Anthony Lepore, John Rife, and Brian Domalik are charged with bribing Patrick Johnson, a Loganville resident, in exchange for favorable treatment by Jackson on contracts between their company and the two government entities.

“These defendants are charged with circumventing the government contracting process by bribing a corrupt public official who was willing to put his own interests above those of the taxpayers he served,” U.S. Attorney John Horn said in a news release. “This indictment reaches to the very top suites of the company, charging complicity in the bribery at the highest levels.”

According to U.S. Attorney Horn, the charges and other information presented in court included:

Anthony Lepore was the President and CEO of Rite Way Services, Inc., an Alabama based company that sought to do business with DeKalb and GWCC. Rife was the regional vice president, and Domalik, who came to work for the company in 2010, was the division manager, both working out of the Norcross, Ga., facility.

The indictment alleges that the three defendants, through Rite Way, conspired to bribe Patrick Jackson by facilitating payments to provide Jackson a furnished luxury apartment in Atlanta.

Patrick Jackson was simultaneously employed by both DeKalb County and the GWCC as the manager of janitorial services from 2006-2012. Jackson did not disclose to either employer that Rite Way, which obtained contracts with both DeKalb County and GWCC during his employment, was paying for an apartment where he resided. In exchange for the apartment, Jackson used his position as a public official to help the company secure contracts with DeKalb and GWCC and to benefit the interests of the company throughout the course of those contracts with DeKalb County and the GWCC.

Both Jackson, 55, of Loganville, and another former employee of Rite Way, Cecil K. Clark, 55, of Jonesboro, who participated in the scheme, pleaded guilty and were sentenced.

Jackson was sentenced on Aug. 12 to four years, three months in federal prison, and ordered to pay restitution to both DeKalb County and GWCC. Clark was sentenced on Sept. 30 to one year, five months in federal prison, ordered to pay restitution to DeKalb County and GWCC, and fined $20,000.

Lepore, 63, of Birmingham, Rife, 65, of Cumming, and Domalik, 47, of Kennesaw were named in a 10-count indictment charging them with conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud. They were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda T. Walker. John Rife will be arraigned at a later date.