Keep Philadelphia Beautiful Head, City Officials, Charged With Theft

The former head of the nonprofit Keep Philadelphia Beautiful program and two former city officials have been charged with theft of program funds and conspiracy to defraud the city government out of $13,000 that they then used to host parties.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan said an indictment was filed August 8 against former Executive Director of Keep Philadelphia Beautiful Mark Viggiano.

Former Philadelphia Streets Department Commissioner William M. Johnson and Assistant City Managing Director David B. Robinson are also named in the indictment. Robinson was responsible for the city’s recycling program.

The indictment charges all three men with conspiracy to defraud the city government and two counts of theft of program funds.

From February 2002 through August 23, 2002, the indictment alleges that the defendants conspired and agreed to use $13,000 of City of Philadelphia money from the Keep Philadelphia Beautiful program for two 2002 parties.

The first was a $5,000 event at the Fairmount Park Horticultural Center on March 22 to celebrate Johnson’s 39th birthday.

The second party on August 23, 2002 was an $8,099 event at the Water Works behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art to celebrate Johnson’s departure from city government. Johnson left to take a job as president of Odyssey Services, a waste transfer company, which closed earlier this year.

Keep Philadelphia Beautiful was a nonprofit organization formed in 1985 which was responsible for fostering and supporting recycling and other environmental stewardship activities for the City of Philadelphia. It is an affiliate of the nationwide Keep America Beautiful nonprofit, which bills itself as the nation’s largest community improvement network.

The Keep Philadelphia Beautiful program had a $197,750 contract with the City of Philadelphia Streets Department, which annually receives federal funds, to develop and implement public education programs to improve cleanliness and enhance the quality of life and personal responsibility among Philadelphia residents and visitors.

Johnson, Robinson, and Viggiano are alleged to have arranged for Keep Philadelphia Beautiful to pay for the two parties. They are then alleged to have received reimbursement for the costs from the City of Philadelphia.

“This was money that was supposed to help make Philadelphia a better place to live, not provide entertainment for a city official,” said Meehan. “The amount of money isn’t as significant as the abuse of trust by two public servants and the gatekeeper of federal funds given to the Streets Department.”

Robinson began working for the city in November 2000. He was fired from his $73,000 city job last Tuesday.

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum 25 years imprisonment, three years of supervised release, a $750,000 fine, and a $300 special assessmen
Provided by the Environmental News Service.