Ex-L.A. Unified Employee Pleads Guilty in Bribe Case
A former public school painting supervisor who awarded contracts in exchange for cash and gifts--including a new marble floor for his house--pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of receiving a bribe.
Charles Cline, head of the paint technical unit for the Los Angeles Unified School District, accepted $50,000 in illicit gifts and services between 1995 and 1997, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Tom Krag.
Cline, 61, will be sentenced July 20 and faces up to four years in prison. Prosecutors dropped a second count of bribery in exchange for his guilty plea, Krag said.
Two other former school district workers, Billy Joe Simily and Richard Steinfeld, are awaiting trial, along with a pair of contractors, Panagiotis Adamopoulos and Mihail Koulakis.
A third suspect, Damianous Hadjidamianou, fled to Cyprus after he was charged with bribing school employees for contracts, Krag said.
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