Burbank Man Indicted in AT&T; Bribery Scheme
A 59-year-old Burbank man was one of two people indicted Friday by a federal grand jury in Georgia on charges of conspiring to bribe an American Telephone & Telegraph employee to divulge trade secrets, authorities said.
Arnold Stevens of Burbank and Harvey Hancock, 56, of Loganville, Ga., are accused of conspiring to pay Charles McGonigal, an AT&T; senior staff engineer in Atlanta, $10,000 in exchange for confidential blueprints of AT&T;’s “709 connector assembly machine,” said Twila Little, spokeswoman for U.S. Atty. Robert L. Barr Jr. of the Northern District of Georgia.
McGonigal notified authorities about the offer and cooperated in an investigation, Little said.
Little said the machine is designed to manufacture state-of-the art splicing devices, used to repair damaged wires for residential and commercial phone lines. She said Hancock, a former AT&T; employee, worked for PSI Telecommunications, of which Stevens is president.
Little said the indictment also charges Stevens and Hancock with interstate travel with the intent to bribe McGonigal.
If convicted of the charges, Stevens and Hancock could each be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
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