Former PennDOT official pleads guilty to taking bribes

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A former official with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has pleaded guilty to soliciting and accepting bribes.

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Tuesday a judge has sentenced 53-year-old Nicholas Martino, of Norristown, to 9 to 23 months on house arrest and ordered him to pay $10,000.

Authorities say Martino accepted payments from a PennDOT contractor in return for continued work with the agency.

The state attorney general’s office says Martino maintained the contractor’s existing state agreements even though the contractor didn’t perform the work.

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Officials have not identified the contractor.

Shapiro says Martino “played with taxpayer money in order to get a payout for himself.”

His case is part of a long-running state investigation into fraud in PennDOT’s southeastern regional office involving more than 10 employees.