A federal appeals court has refused to overturn a prison sentence for a top D.C. government asbestos inspector who was caught in an FBI sting taking cash from a contractor for easing environmental rules.
Jeffrey Edwards, who was a senior air-quality and asbestos inspector with the D.C. Department of Health, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison in October 2005 on bribery and extortion charges.
Prosecutors said Edwards demanded $10,000 from a consultant for a company that had been hired by the District to demolish incinerators at the Benning Road solid-waste transfer facility in Northeast.
In exchange, Edwards would allow the company, Keystone Plus Construction, to permit asbestos removal from the dump under less stringent standards.
Keystone alerted authorities about the offer and cooperated with the FBI during the investigation.
The bribe hinged on Edwards’ power to decide whether the project should proceed under stricter, more expensive federal rules for “friable asbestos,” which typically calls for building a full-containment structure to keep asbestos fibers from being released into the air.
Friable asbestos can turn into fine powder and released into the air, but rules for “nonfriable asbestos” generally do not require building full-containment structures, so removal is much cheaper.
In appealing the sentence, an attorney for Edwards argued that the federal sentencing guidelines were wrongly applied in the case because of a mistake in calculating how much money was involved.
Though Edwards demanded a $10,000 bribe, prosecutors placed the value of the criminal conduct as high as $200,000. That was how much more money Keystone would have had to pay to complete the project under the less-stringent standards promised by Edwards, prosecutors said.
Edwards’ attorney disputed the calculation, arguing that Keystone ultimately was allowed to move ahead with the project under the less-expensive measures.
The D.C. Department of Health has said the project was ruled safe under the nonfriable standards by independent analysts after Edwards’ arrest.
However, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit this week rejected Edwards’ argument and upheld the 33-month prison sentence.
“Indeed, it is part of the outrage of Edwards’ extortionate conduct that he coerced a contractor into paying him $10,000 for the privilege of doing that which the contract could lawfully have done for free,” the appeals court ruled in a 13-page decision handed down Tuesday.
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