Former Executive at Masonry Contractor Sentenced to Nearly Five Years in Prison for Conspiring to Bribe Amtrak Employee in Exchange for Over $50 Million in Extra Work on 30th Street Station Project

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Donald Seefeldt, 65, of Wilmette, Illinois, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone to 57 months' imprisonment, one year of probation, 59 hours of community service, and a $50,000 fine for conspiracy to commit federal program bribery.

Seefeldt was charged by information with that offense in November 2024 and pleaded guilty in February.

As presented in the information, on or about December 10, 2015, a masonry restoration contractor (the “Contractor”) was awarded a $58,473,000 contract by Amtrak to be the main contractor on a façade repair and restoration project at Amtrak’s 30th Street Station in Philadelphia.

Federal funding supplied approximately 90 percent of the money Amtrak used to pay the Contractor for the repair and restoration of the 30th Street Station façade.

Defendant Seefeldt was the Senior Executive Vice President of the Contractor with responsibility to provide executive oversight of the Contractor’s performance on the 30th Street Station façade project.

Lee Maniatis and Khaled Dallo, both charged elsewhere, were Vice Presidents of the Contractor, with responsibility to supervise the Contractor’s performance on the 30th Street Station façade project. Mark Snedden, also charged elsewhere, was the sole owner and president of the Contractor.

Amtrak Employee #1 was employed by Amtrak as the Project Manager on the repair and restoration project. In that capacity, Amtrak Employee #1 was responsible for communicating with the Contractor about the work being done on 30th Street Station. Amtrak Employee #1 was also responsible for reviewing the invoices, change orders, and requests for payment that the Contractor submitted to Amtrak. Amtrak Employee #1 had the power to approve or reject these invoices, change orders, and requests for payment. Although Amtrak Employee #1 did not have the singular authority to approve Amtrak payments to the Contractor, his approval was a critical step in that process.

The contract between Amtrak and the Contractor prohibited the defendant and other Contractor officials from “offer[ing] to any Amtrak employee, agent, or representative any cash, gift, entertainment, commission, or kickback for the purpose of securing favorable treatment with regard to award or performance of any contract or agreement.”

As detailed in the information and admitted to by the defendant, from in or about May 2016 through in or about November 2019, in Philadelphia, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, Seefeldt conspired, combined, and agreed with others, including Amtrak Employee #1, Maniatis, Dallo, and Snedden to commit an offense against the United States; that is, to knowingly and corruptly give, offer, and agree to give, a thing of value to Amtrak Employee #1, intending to influence and reward Amtrak Employee #1 in connection with any business, transaction and series of transactions involving a thing of value of $5,000 or more.

Specifically, Seefeldt and the others, with the knowledge and agreement of Snedden, provided Amtrak Employee #1 with gifts and other things of value totaling approximately $323,686, including, among other things, paid vacations (including an approximately $19,000 trip to Ecuador and a $9,500 trip to India), jewelry (including an approximately $5,600 watch and later an approximately $11,000 watch), cash, dinners, a dog, entertainment, and transportation, to ensure that Amtrak Employee #1 used his power and influence to benefit the Contractor during the performance of the 30th Street Station Repair and Restoration Project.

In return for these gifts and other things of value, Amtrak Employee #1 allegedly used his position at Amtrak to access internal agency information available only to Amtrak employees about the 30th Street Station Project and shared this internal information with the defendant and other officials with the Contractor.

The information further alleges that Amtrak Employee #1 used his position at Amtrak to approve additional, more expensive changes to the 30th Street Station Repair and Restoration Project, thereby increasing the amount and value of the work to be performed by the Contractor. These additional expenses were reflected in a series of change orders or contract modifications. In total, Amtrak Employee #1 approved over $52 million of additional payments from Amtrak to the Contractor. Amtrak Employee #1 and officials with the Contractor, including defendant Seefeldt, falsely inflated the true costs of some of the work to be performed by the Contractor under these change orders, causing Amtrak to be substantially overbilled by over $2 million for the completion of the 30th Street Station Repair and Restoration Project.

“Seefeldt conspired to bribe an Amtrak employee, to benefit himself and his colleagues,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “In padding their pockets at the government’s expense, they were, in fact, victimizing U.S. taxpayers. Every dollar lost to federal program fraud means one less for a vital program or public priority.”

“Stealing and misappropriating federal funds is not just a criminal act; it is a betrayal of the trust placed in us by the communities we serve, and it damages the integrity of the systems they depend on,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Bribery directly undermines our rule of law. In partnership with our colleagues, the FBI is unwavering in its commitment to eradicating public corruption and ensuring that those who abuse their positions for personal gain are held accountable.”

“Our work on this case sends a strong message to all contractors about their obligation to operate legally and ethically,” said Michael J. Waters, Special Agent in Charge for the Amtrak Office of Inspector General Eastern Area Field Office. “We remain committed to investigating acts of bribery or other illegal or unethical conduct to ensure Amtrak’s funds are protected. We’re proud of our joint efforts with the FBI and DOT OIG who supported this investigation and appreciative of the support from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message: if you defraud our nation’s infrastructure system, you will be caught and held accountable,” said Brian C. Gallagher, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Northeastern Region. “We’re committed to working with our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners to protect taxpayer dollars and uphold the integrity of federally funded programs.”

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Amtrak Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason Grenell.