Police say two men already imprisoned for bilking one Pennsylvania town out of $800,000 in a streetlight scheme have done the same thing to another township.
The (Doylestown) Intelligencer reports Richland Township police have charged Patrick McLaine, 66, and Robert Kearns, 49, with theft and conspiracy for a $165,000 deal their company cut with the township.
That company, Municipal Energy Managers, was supposed to take over maintenance of 160 township streetlights from PPL, an Allentown utility, so the township could get grants to install energy-saving LED lights. Instead, police say, the men did nothing after taking the money.
“We’re one of a number of municipalities that fell victim to the same thing,” Richland Township Manager Steve Sechriest told the paper.
They're both serving 16 to 60 months in prison for a similar scheme in Bethlehem Township last year, and face additional charges in two other counties.
Their attorneys could not immediately be reached.
