In this case, Otterson approved 178 American Collision invoices for city vehicle repairs that contained 13,442 hours of unperformed labor, which resulted in an unwarranted payment of $403,081 from the city to American Collision, according to the grand-jury investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office's Insurance Fraud Unit and the Pennsylvania State Police.



"The city's in such dire straits right now," Assistant District Attorney Dawn Holtz said after Thursday's plea hearing. "These people ripped the city off. Greed on top of greed. They got the contract illegally, now they have to overcharge the city. Obviously, Mr. Otterson thought he would get something off of it."



While searching Otterson's residential property in April 2014, investigators found receipts for large purchases made by Otterson, including for a $2,000 watch, new carpets worth $700, new windows worth about $8,000, a $9,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and receipts for firearms bought with cash.



Otterson was fired from his city job in 2014 — around the time he was charged with bid-rigging and related offenses.



His defense attorney, Perry de Marco Sr., said after Thursday's hearing: "In spite of these charges, he's otherwise a great guy. He's been hardworking all his life. At heart, he's a good fellow."



He contended Otterson, who is not in custody, is a good candidate for probation at his Dec. 16 sentencing before Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart.



Among the charges Otterson pleaded guilty to were conspiracy, bid-rigging, theft and perjury.



In a statement Thursday, city spokesman Mike Dunn said that after learning of the investigation, the Office of Fleet Management had "fully cooperated with officials during the entire investigation and in fact helped uncover information that led to the arrests."



Otterson on Thursday also pleaded guilty to theft in another matter in which he stole items from the city's inventory.



According to an affidavit of probable cause, Otterson, while working as a Fleet Management team leader, stole city property from the city building at 11th and Reed and from a fenced-in city lot across the street. He then sold the items for his own profit.



Investigators found that Otterson and another Fleet Management employee, Daniel Rosa, had posted for sale about $40,000 worth of items they stole from the city's inventory on Craigslist, including police strobe light kits, Ford and Chevy car parts, Meyer snow plow parts, welders, a Honda generator and Porta-Potties.



Holtz said it's not clear how much of the items were actually sold on Craigslist. Earlier this year, Rosa, 35, entered a probationary program for first-time offenders. He resigned from his city job last year, about the time he was charged.