City Dispatcher Pleads Guilty in Bribery Conspiracy |
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U.S. Attorney's Office
21 July 2014
PHILADELPHIA—Dorian Parsley, 44, of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy, solicitation of a bribe, and honest services fraud in connection with a scheme to give an unfair advantage to certain tow truck operators. Between February 2011 and December 2013, Parsley, a former Philadelphia Police Department (“PPD”) dispatcher, used her position to provide confidential police information, such as locations of automobile accidents, locations of PPD squad cars, and vehicle registration information, to tow truck operators who provided her with cash bribe payments. She typically received $100-$200 per week for the information. She agreed that she received $35,400 in bribes.
Parsley would surreptitiously text information that came into PPD dispatch from her personal cellphone directly to those tow truck operators. For an additional cash fee, Parsley agreed to provide certain tow truck operators with the name and address of a vehicle owner by running the license plate and vehicle registration through the PPD dispatch computer. PPD computers automatically access the National Crime Information Center (“NCIC”) located in West Virginia when a vehicle registration was inputted, thereby affecting an interstate wire.
Co-defendant William Cheeseman also pleaded guilty today to one count of bribery for paying Parsley cash bribes for the information on accident locations. He agreed that the value of the information he received was $9,000.
Parsley faces a potential statutory maximum penalty of 35 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $750,000 fine, and a $300 special assessment. Cheeseman faces a potential statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment. The court scheduled Parsley’s sentencing date on October 21, 2014 and Cheeseman’s on October 24, 2014.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philadelphia Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Chun Barry.