Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission chief executive Mark Compton named three persons to a special advisory committee to review turnpike policies related to contracting and business practices.
Compton appointed John Gedid of Mechanicsburg, Pa., a retired law professor and founder and director of the Law & Government Institute at Widener University School of Law’s Harrisburg Campus; Maureen Lally-Green of Cranberry Township, Pa., a retired State Superior Court judge and adjunct professor at Duquesne University School of Law; and M.G. Patel of Harrisburg, Pa., a former construction-company executive and retired chief engineer at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Compton, who took office on Feb. 1, announced the committee in March, days after state Attorney General Kathleen Kane revealed grand-jury indictments against former turnpike and state officials in a pay-to-play scandal that included allegations of improper steering of bond underwriting business to PNC Capital Markets.
Preliminary hearings are in their second week at the Dauphin County courthouse in Harrisburg. Justice William Wenner is expected to rule later this month on whether the case should go to trial.
Charged were former State Senator Robert Mellow; former turnpike commissioner Mitchell Rubin; former Turnpike chief executive Joseph Brimmeier; former Turnpike chief operating officer George Hatalowich; and former turnpike employees Melvin Shelton and Raymond Zajicek.
In addition, turnpike vendors Dennis Miller and Jeffrey Suzenski are charged with a variety of offenses, including conspiracy, commercial bribery, bid-rigging, theft, conflict of interest and corrupt organization violations.
