Authorities say electrical inspector Michael Perkins took bribes from a State Police informant.
TRENTON - A former electrical code inspector for an Ocean County town was sentenced to three years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to bribery charges, authorities said.
Mitchell B. Perkins, a code inspector in Lakewood Township, took bribes from contractors to fast-track inspections and in at least one case approved electrical work sight unseen, according to the state Attorney General's Office.
His attorney did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Michael Perkins. According to state authorities, Perkins accepted four $300 bribes from an electrical contractor working as an informant for the State Police in 2015.
Police said Perkins later returned the first payment, but kept the other three.
Authorities claim that before the payments, Perkins had "inordinately delayed inspections of the contractor's works sites," but picked up the pace after he received the payments.
The state's investigation later found Perkins had been taking bribes going back to 1997, authorities claim.
He pleaded guilty in December to a charge of second-degree conspiracy to commit bribery and is now barred from public employee, according to Attorney General Christopher Porrino.
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