Bid scandal sentencings delayed
By Steve Herring
Published in News on June 3, 2012 1:50 AM
Sentencing for three defendants in a bid-rigging scheme involving Wayne County Public Schools has been rescheduled from this week to July in federal district court in New Bern. A fourth defendant is to be sentenced in August.
David Lee Tedder, 50, of Selma was to have been sentenced June 6, and former school employees Danny Lee Langley, 54, of Snow Hill, and Earl Wayne Rhodes, 58, of Pikeville, on June 7.
However, sentencing for Rhodes and Langley has been reset for July 19 at 9:30 a.m. Tedder will be sentenced July 12 at 9:30 a.m. Langley is the school system's former director of maintenance, and Rhodes is the former assistant director.
The fourth defendant, Pamela Carol Turner, 45, of Selma, is to be sentenced Aug. 8.
Tedder was charged on April 1, 2011, and pleaded guilty on June 14, 2011, to conspiring to commit bribery concerning local programs receiving federal funds.
Langley pleaded guilty to bribery and Rhodes pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery on Dec. 13, 2011.
Ms. Turner, owner of All American Roofing and Construction, pleaded guilty Sept. 14, 2011, to structuring transactions to evade a reporting requirement.
Langley and Rhodes allegedly helped Ms. Turner's company win roofing contracts with the school system between 2002 and 2009 by providing Ms. Turner with the price needed to win the contract. The two men were allegedly paid a cash percentage after the school system had paid the company.
Tedder and Ms. Turner sometimes would submit fake, complementary bids to lend legitimacy to what was otherwise a corrupt bidding process, according to court documents.
As part of the scheme, All American employees falsely accounted for the cash payments to Langley and Rhodes as "job materials" -- as a cost of goods sold.
According to court documents, Wayne County payment records show a substantial growth in business awarded to All American over the time period involved.
In 2002-03, 0.3 percent, or $2,400, of the school system's roofing budget was paid to All American. Beginning in 2004-05, the business awarded to All American jumped to 61.1 percent of the roofing budget, with total payments amounting to $482,145.
In 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09, All American was paid $724,745, $500,506, and $313,845, respectively.