Summary

On July 29, 2015, John George, Jr., of North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Boston. He was sentenced to 70 months imprisonment related to an embezzlement scheme. He was also ordered to pay $688,772 in restitution to the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA). SRTA serves ten communities in Southeastern Massachusetts.

The sentencing follows his conviction in April 2015, on charges of conspiracy and embezzlement of federal funds. The charges were related to his role as the former president and owner of the Union Street Bus Company (USBC). USBC served as the operator for SRTA. From 2005 to 2011, SRTA received approximately $42 million in grant funds from Federal Transit Administration.

From late 2007 to October 2011, SRTA paid USBC over $1 million to manage and operate the public bus transit service. These funds were used to pay salaries, benefits, and other expenses. The DOT OIG investigation disclosed that George had misused the federal funds by paying several employees to work on his personally owned produce farm during regular working hours. During that time, George also inflated his salary by approximately $200,000 (from $75,000 to $275,000) in an attempt to boost his yearly pension payment from SRTA. The government is seeking $1.38 million in forfeiture.