Pocono News Section

School Official Also Pleads Guilty

School Official Also Pleads Guilty - Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at 6:20PM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Tuesday, Dec 29, 2009 @ 06:20pm EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY -- Jeff Piazza walked into federal court in Scranton on Tuesday. He once worked at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technical Institute. He admitted to taking kickbacks from a vendor at the school.

Piazza's job was to order supplies, but the F. B.I. says he did that and more - he lined his own pockets with cash from that vendor.

According to federal investigators the vendor would jack up the price of his product and Piazza would keep the extra cash for himself.

Piazza resigned from the school several weeks before he was charged. The vendor in this case has not been named and the company has not been charged.

Piazza faces 20 years in prison and a$250,000 fine. He'll be sentenced in March. He remains free on his own recognizance.