Summary

On April 18, 2013, Tina Marie Pollard, a former Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) employee, was sentenced to serve three years and three months incarceration.  She was also ordered to pay restitution to the State of Florida in the amount of $242,981.25; forfeit $30,000 in bribe money she received; and fined a special assessment of $200. Upon release from prison, Pollard will serve two years of supervised release and perform 25 hours of community service.

As part of a plan to widen 20 miles of Interstate 4, FDOT purchased property in 2006 that MLA Furniture rented in Orlando.  The right-of-way property was procured with Federal and State grant funds.  Pollard worked out of FDOT's DeLand office as a right-of-way agent whose job was to help relocate people and businesses displaced by transportation projects.  In return for receiving $30,000, Pollard conspired with MLA to process fictitious claims representing that MLA Furniture had applied for reimbursement of relocation expenses, even though MLA had not incurred any expenses.  The investigation determined that Pollard deposited the funds into her personal bank account. 

We investigated this case jointly with the FDOT Office of Inspector General.