CONTRACTOR CONVICTED OF BRIBERY AND THEFT IN CURRAN’S CONTINUING CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION AT UMBC

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Patrick R. Sisk, 49, of Waterbird Court in Cockeysville, has been convicted of Felony Theft, Conspiracy to Commit Theft, and Bribery, in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County.

Patrick Sisk pled guilty, before the Honorable John G. Turnbull, II in connection with a bribery and theft scheme involving construction projects at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). In the court proceedings, Patrick Sisk, the owner of Sisk Contracting, a concrete contractor, admitted that he participated in a four year scheme with a UMBC Construction Manager to generate a steady stream of illegal cash by the submission of false and inflated invoices to the University. Sisk allowed the UMBC Construction Manager to create and submit the inflated invoices on behalf of Sisk Contracting, to the general contractor, knowing that the Construction Manager would ultimately approve the fraudulent invoices. The illegal cash was then "kicked back" by Patrick Sisk to the Construction Manager and to others at the Construction Manager’s direction. The kickbacks included payments for a variety of personal items, golf vacations, significant home renovations for the Construction Manager and the Construction Manager’s supervisor, and at least $35,000.00 in cash. The total amount stolen from UMBC through the scheme exceeded $137,000.00.

Sisk admitted that he participated in the scheme to insure that he would continue to get work at UMBC. During the four years of the scheme, Sisk was a regular subcontractor on UMBC construction projects. Sisk has agreed to cooperate in the State’s continuing investigation into corruption in the procurement process at UMBC. Sentencing is scheduled for September 27, 2006.

Sisk is the second person to be convicted in Attorney General Curran’s investigation. One other person, Joseph Shryock, pled guilty to Felony Theft in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

The case was referred by the UMBC Police Department and the University System of Maryland Internal Audit Office, and is being investigated by the Attorney General’s Criminal Investigations Division and the Maryland State Police.