MTA Consultant Gets 6 Months in Bribery Case

An insurance consultant to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority who pleaded guilty to paying a $5,000 bribe to a country transit agency official in return for agency business was sentenced to six months in jail Monday and fined $3,000.

Gilda A. DeSmith, 45, a Northern California resident who formerly lived in Downey, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George H. King.

DeSmith pleaded guilty in October to bribing Abdoul Sesay, who oversaw insurance contracts at the MTA and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.

DeSmith admitted in connection with her guilty plea that in return for the $5,000 payment, Sesay steered consulting work to her, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Marc Harris.

DeSmith also admitted failing to report on her federal tax returns about $116,000 in income that she received while working for the MTA in 1992 and 1993.

Sesay pleaded guilty in July 1995 to accepting bribes from DeSmith and another contractor, John D. McAllister. He said he received about $25,000 from DeSmith and about $75,000 from McAllister.

Sesay was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison and was released recently.

McAllister was found guilty in December 1996 of making more than $115,000 in illegal payments to Sesay, a longtime friend. Sesay steered $425,000 in insurance contracts to McAllister between 1992 and 1994.

McAllister was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.

The case against Smith is the result of an ongoing investigation being conducted by the MTA office of the inspector general, the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Transportation.