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Delco Councilman found guilty of receiving organized kickbacks

Published  July 20, 2018 7:57pm EDT
US
FOX 29 Philadelphia

MEDIA, P.a. (WTXF) - Police have announced the conviction of Councilman Edward Mitchell on Friday afternoon.

The longtime 75-year-old Councilman has been found guilty of receiving kickbacks on highly inflated costs for security systems installed in various borough buildings and billing for items that were never installed.

Mitchel was charged back on March 3, 2016 when the CID was notified by Upland Borough Mayor Michael Ciach when he discovered a covert camera system installed in the Upland Borough Municipal Building. The same day the system was found, CID detectives Robert Lythgoe and Edmond Pisani went to the building and located the camera system disguised as motion sensors for the building alarm system along with hidden microphones.

RELATED: DA: Delco councilman organized kickbacks, installed secret cameras

Investigators say the cameras and recording devices were installed by Logan Technology and an amount of 275 invoices totaling $914,000 was paid by Upland Borough to the company from October 2009 to December 2015. Mitchell received kickbacks of between 10 and 20 percent of various invoices submitted by Logan Technology.

The Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland released a statement saying, "We hold elected officials to a higher standard of conduct, and Edward Mitchell's criminal behavior and violation of public trust is not only disappointing, but downright deplorable. Even more outrageous is the fact that Mr. Mitchell has continued to maintain his elected position. As he is now a convicted felon and has been stripped of the cloak of innocence, I call upon Mr. Mitchell to immediately resign from his elected position as Councilman of Upland Borough. Should he choose not to resign and continue his flagrant disrespect of the public's trust, I fully intend to file a motion for his removal from office effective immediately upon his sentencing as per the law."

After conviction Mitchell's bail was increased by the Court to 10 percent of $500,000 with a sentencing scheduled for September 14, 2018.