Advisor Found Guilty in MTA Bribery Case

Federal prosecutors Friday won their first conviction in a trial involving the corruption of an MTA official when jurors found a New York insurance consultant guilty of bribing the agency’s former insurance chief to win contracts.

John D. McAllister slumped slightly in his chair about 2 p.m. when jurors came back after half a day’s deliberations in Los Angeles federal court to convict him of giving $115,000 to former MTA risk management director Abdoul R. Sesay to earn work worth $425,000 from 1992 to 1994.

Sesay pleaded guilty to bribery in 1995 and will be sentenced Jan. 6. He testified this week that he recommended the Metropolitan Transportation Authority hire McAllister, 49, to help the agency pick insurance brokers and carriers, but the real purpose was to receive kickbacks in return.

“He was helping me out because I was helping him out,” Sesay told jurors Wednesday. “Whenever he got a check from the MTA, he sent a check to me.”

The testimony provided a glimpse into lax contracting practices common at the MTA at that time, the government said. Sesay testified that because project managers like himself were allowed virtually sole discretion over hiring and paying consultants, he could use the MTA treasury as a personal piggy bank.

Whenever he needed money, he hired McAllister for more work at $185 an hour plus expenses--and McAllister kicked back checks or wire transfers of $1,200 to $9,000.

McAllister’s attorney had argued that the payments were just loans from a “very generous man” to a longtime friend who borrowed money incessantly from him and many others.

The attorney, W. Michael Mayock, told jurors that Sesay paid much of the money back in cash over the two-year period, although he did not produce any documents to back up the claim.

In closing arguments Thursday, Assistant U.S. Atty. Marc S. Harris questioned McAllister’s explanation, telling jurors that they should use common sense to realize that “no one gives $115,000 to someone else without getting something in return.”

Harris told jurors that bank records showed that McAllister’s payments to Sesay were timed closely to when the consultant received MTA payments--a chronology more consistent with kickbacks than loans.

“Whenever there were gaps in the MTA checks, there were no payments to Sesay,” Harris said.

“He didn’t give these payments out of friendship,” Harris concluded, “but because his friend was an influential person at the MTA who had the ability to steer lucrative contracts his way.”

U.S. Atty. Nora Manella said the convictions of McAllister and Sesay “demonstrate the commitment by federal law enforcement to ensure the integrity of MTA contracting.”

Larry Zarian, chairman of the MTA board of directors, said that the convictions ought to send a message to agency consultants and employees “that you just don’t fool around--and if you do and get caught, you’ll pay a high price.”

McAllister is scheduled to be sentenced March 24. He is considered likely under federal sentencing guidelines to receive a sentence of two to three years in prison.

Sesay is considered likely to be sentenced to 10 to 16 months in prison under the guidelines because he admitted guilt and cooperated with authorities.