NE Pa. contractor sentenced to 1 year in prison for bribing school board member

SCRANTON, Pa. — A contractor was sentenced to one year in federal prison and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine for bribing a northeastern Pennsylvania school board member.

Michael Pasonick was sentenced Friday in Scranton. He pleaded guilty last year to paying a school director between $1,000 and $1,500 in an effort to secure district contracts.

Federal prosecutors did not identify the school district.

Pasonick had faced 18 to 24 months under sentencing guidelines, but won a reduction because his cooperation resulted in several other convictions.

The 69-year-old engineer from Wilkes-Barre has been implicated, but not charged, in two other government corruption cases.