State Employee & Wife Charged in Bribery Scheme
By: Eric Deabill
Updated: March 19, 2012
Scranton, Lackawanna County - A state employee and his wife are both facing criminal charges tonight in Lackawanna County.
James and Michelle McDonnell of Scranton were both charged Monday morning.
Investigators say James McDonnell worked for a division of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry. He's accused of reducing the insurance premiums for several businesses in exchange for kickbacks.
In some cases, his wife Michelle McDonnell was put on those company's payroll as a "ghost employee."
Over more than ten years, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office said the scheme made the McDonnell's more than $80,000.
