Three Individuals Indicted for Role in Bribing DeKalb and Georgia World Congress Center Official

ATLANTA – Anthony Lepore, John Rife, and Brian Domalik, all former employees of a janitorial services company, have been indicted on charges that they conspired to bribe Patrick Jackson, a public official employed by DeKalb County and the Georgia World Congress Center, in exchange for favorable treatment by Jackson on contracts between their company and the two government entities.

“These defendants are charged with circumventing the government contracting process by bribing a corrupt public official who was willing to put his own interests above those of the taxpayers he served,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn.  “This indictment reaches to the very top suites of the company, charging complicity in the bribery at the highest levels.”

“These three defendants found out the hard way that those who bribe or otherwise entice public officials to engage in criminal acts of public corruption can themselves become subjects of federal criminal investigations.  Because public corruption investigations are the FBI’s number one criminal program priority, the FBI continues to provide significant resources in ensuring that those engaged in this type of activity will be held accountable,” said J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office.

“This indictment illustrates that alleged corruption involving public officials will not be tolerated in the state of Georgia.  It is essential that violators of these types of crimes be held accountable.  The GBI is fully committed to working with the FBI’s Public Corruption Task Force to investigate public corruption cases,” said Vernon Keenan, Director, Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

According to U.S. Attorney Horn, the charges and other information presented in court: Anthony Lepore was the President and CEO of Rite Way Services, Inc., an Alabama based company that sought to do business with both the DeKalb County Government and the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC). Rife was the Regional Vice President, and Domalik, who came to work for the company in 2010, was the Division Manager, both working out of the Norcross, Georgia, facility. The indictment alleges that the three defendants, through Rite Way, conspired to bribe Patrick Jackson by facilitating payments to provide Jackson a furnished luxury apartment in Atlanta, Georgia.

Patrick Jackson was simultaneously employed by both DeKalb County and the GWCC as the manager of janitorial services from approximately 2006-2012. Jackson did not disclose to either employer that Rite Way, which obtained contracts with both DeKalb County and GWCC during his employment, was paying for an apartment where he resided. In exchange for the apartment, Jackson used his position as a public official to help the company secure contracts with DeKalb and GWCC and to benefit the interests of the company throughout the course of those contracts with DeKalb County and the GWCC. 

Both Patrick Jackson, 55, of Loganville, Georgia, and another former employee of Rite Way, Cecil K. Clark, 55, of Jonesboro, Georgia, who participated in the scheme have previously pleaded guilty and been sentenced:

• Jackson was sentenced on August 12, 2015, by U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey Jr. to four years, three months in federal prison, and ordered to pay restitution to both DeKalb County and GWCC.

• Clark was sentenced on September 30, 2015, by U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey Jr., to one year, five months in federal prison, ordered to pay restitution to DeKalb County and GWCC, and fined $20,000.  

Lepore, 63, of Birmingham, Alabama; Rife, 65, of Cumming, Georgia; and Domalik, 47, of Kennesaw, Georgia were named in a ten-count indictment charging them with conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud.  They were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda T. Walker.  John Rife will be arraigned at a later date.    

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamie L. Mickelson and Kamal Ghali are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.