First Defendant Sentenced in Corruption Scheme that Deprived City of Fees

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
January 21, 2011

PHILADELPHIA—Tina Meyrick, 43, of Hatboro, PA, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for bribery relating to a corrupt scheme to sell and obtain traffic accident reports, police incident reports, and fire reports, depriving the city of Philadelphia of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger.

Meyrick and two others paid bribes to then-city employee Kelly Layre, also charged, in exchange for providing her with various reports. The scheme was carried out over a four-year period, from about 2006 through February 2010, and deprived the city of Philadelphia of over $500,000 in fees. As part of this scheme, Layre sold more than 18,000 reports to Meyrick, which are normally sold to the public for a $20 or $25 fee, at a significantly reduced rate. Meyrick knew that Layre was not providing the funds to the city of Philadelphia. All four defendants pled guilty. Meyrick entered her guilty plea on September 10, 2010.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Mary A. McLaughlin ordered Meyrick to pay restitution in the amount of $456,725, and serve three years of supervised release, with the first year on house arrest. She must report to prison on February 21, 2011.

Layre's sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 26, 2011.

This case was jointly investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the city of Philadelphia Office of the Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Denise S. Wolf.