The Courier Times quoted the Lower South Township Manager saying he doesn’t believe there were any attempts by anyone to influence the decisions of any board member. That pretty much alibis Hoopes and Waltman. The Feds must be pretty ticked about the alibis.
The only other serious charges are money laundering but the Feds admit the officials were caught in a sting operation which is easy to explain as putting temptation in front of an unsuspecting victim. It may have been worse for the Feds because they put so much temptation i front of the suspects that it would be unconscionable to not bite on the sting. The feds created and carried out a series of crimes to entrap the victims.
It almost seems the victims have a massive legal case against the government for what the government did.
The problem is no one can see into the mind of anyone so we don’t know how guilty the victims are but we do know that at the moment they are innocent because they haven’s been found guilty. Just make sure you don’t leave your car keys around these people. That means the people on both sides of this case.
Here’s part of the story from the Courier. “Statements made by two high-ranking officials indicating the board was influenced by the pair are wrong, several supervisors said.
“Lower Southampton officials soundly rejected statements made in a Dec. 5 indictment by two high-ranking public officials accused in a federal corruption probe that the pair controlled decision-making among township officials and employees.
“Township Manager John McMenamin, supervisors Chairman Keith Wesley and Supervisor Joseph McFadden denied any knowledge of alleged illegal and unethical actions described in the Dec. 5 indictment that outlined new additional charges of bribery, extortion and fraud against former Lower Southampton District Judge John Waltman, 60, of Lower Southampton and former Director of Public Safety Robert P. Hoopes, 70, of Doylestown.
“These guys were completely rogue,” Chairman Keith Wesley said in an interview following the Dec. 6 board of supervisors meeting.
“Among the examples cited in the Dec. 5 indictment of Hoopes and Waltman bragging about political influence was a conversation from early November 2016.
“According to the document, Hoopes was asked if someone could “influence the LST’s Board of Supervisors to take a favorable view” of a new lease offer.
“Yeah, I can do that,” Hoopes said, according to the document, adding, “I’ll make it happen.”
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