Mark Snedden, a 69-year-old resident of Munster, Indiana, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery and making a false claim. The plea was entered before U.S. District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone. Snedden's admissions relate to his tenure as the President of a masonry contractor company involved in a major repair and restoration project at Amtrak's 30th Street Station in Philadelphia.
The contractor, awarded a $58,473,000 contract for the task, received approximately 90% of its funding from federal sources. Snedden, alongside other company officials, was prohibited by contract terms from attempting to bribe Amtrak employees with cash, gifts, or other incentives. However, from May 2016 to November 2019, Snedden and his colleagues were implicated in a scheme to bribe Amtrak Employee #1, who was responsible for overseeing communication and approval of expenditures for the project.
Assistant United States Attorney Jason Grenell stated, "The defendant conspired and agreed with others known and unknown to the United States Attorney, including Amtrak Employee #1... to knowingly and corruptly give, offer, and agree to give a thing of value to Amtrak Employee #1." It was revealed that gifts valued at approximately $323,686 were provided, which consisted of vacations, jewelry, cash, and other items of value.
In return, Amtrak Employee #1 allegedly used his access to insider information and influenced the authorization of additional work changes, inflating the project cost by over $52 million. As a part of this unauthorized scheme, the defendant and others exaggerated cost claims, resulting in Amtrak being overcharged by over $2 million.
United States Attorney David Metcalf announced the guilty plea and the ensuing sentence, scheduled for August 13. Snedden faces a potential maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment for his involvement in the bribery and false claim conspiracy. The investigative task force included the FBI, Amtrak Office of Inspector General, and Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General.