Contractor gets prison in corruption case

PORT HURON (AP) - An engineering contractor convicted of paying a series of bribes to a public official in suburban Detroit has been sentenced to a year in prison.

The Detroit News reports that 50-year-old Paulin Modi of Troy was given his punishment last week by U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland.

Modi was convicted of paying bribes totaling $5,000 to a Washington Township official who was cooperating with the FBI. The bribes were designed to maintain a township contract for Modi's engineering business.

Modi's lawyer Walter Piszczatowski says his client accepted responsibility and was remorseful. He noted that Modi also cooperated with government investigators.

Modi is the latest person sentenced in a corruption scandal that has led to federal charges against about two dozen contractors and public officials.

Published: Tue, Feb 12, 2019