Opinion ID: 629120
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Counts V-VII--Bud Kearney, Inc.

Text: 17
18 John N. (Bud) Kearney was the founder and co-owner of Bud Kearney, Inc., a Ford/Mercury dealership in Albany County. John H. Kearney, Bud Kearney's son, was a co-owner and in charge of daily operations. Coyne had been a friend of the Kearney family for forty years. 19 During Coyne's tenure as County Executive, the County purchased three new vehicles for his use, all from Bud Kearney, Inc. In June 1988, the County traded in five vehicles to Bud Kearney, Inc. toward the purchase of the new vehicles. One of the five vehicles traded in was a 1984 Ford LTD that Coyne had driven for a time as County Executive. Bud Kearney, Inc. then gave the Ford LTD to Coyne, who gave it to his daughter. However, both she and Coyne used it. The Ford LTD had a retail value of $5,625. 20 During this same time period, Coyne informed John H. Kearney that there would be bids for the purchase of another County car for his use, and that he wanted a Mercury Sable. Coyne specified numerous features as necessary, including leather seats, a sun-roof, a maroon exterior, a gray interior, a particular tire size, certain rearview mirrors, and power seats. On July 5, the County published bids for the car. Bids were opened on July 28. However, on June 7, Bud Kearney, Inc. ordered a Mercury Sable that contained every feature Coyne wanted. Because of production schedules for 1989 models, June 8 was the last day a dealer could order a new 1988 Mercury Sable. When the bids were opened on July 28, another dealer's bid was $788 less than the Bud Kearney, Inc. bid, but that car did not meet Coyne's specifications. The Bud Kearney, Inc. bid was accepted.
21 On August 24, 1988, two days before the delivery of Coyne's new Mercury Sable, John H. Kearney sent a letter to Coyne requesting a $5,000 appropriation for the Five Chiefs Search and Recovery Dive Team. Coyne told his budget director to put a line item for $5,000 into the executive budget, which was represented as an amount requested by the Albany County Department of Natural Disasters and Civil Defense (Civil Defense Department). In fact, Coyne did not consult the Civil Defense Department. The $5,000 was eventually included in Albany County's 1989 budget. 22 In late 1988, the Five Chiefs changed their name to the Coeymans Dive Rescue Team. Kearney resigned from the Coeymans team in March 1989. In the summer of 1989, the Coeymans dive team made numerous requests for the money to purchase equipment but never received funding. However, in April 1990, Coyne announced that he had formed a new dive team, the Albany County Dive Team. Equipment had been purchased by the County for this team beginning in December 1989. Although the director of the Civil Defense Department and his assistant were the only ones authorized to sign the requisitions for this equipment, they did not do so. Rather, Kearney, who was not a county employee, signed the director's name and then initialed it. 23 In 1988, Albany County received $24,604,072 in federal financial assistance. None of this money was earmarked for the purchase of cars or equipment for dive teams. 24
25 Counts V, VI and VII related to the Kearney transactions. Count V charged Coyne with violating 18 U.S.C. Sec. 371 by conspiring with Kearney to accept and offer the 1984 Ford LTD in order to influence and reward Coyne in connection with the Mercury Sable bid, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 666(a)(1)(B), (a)(2). Count V also charged that Coyne violated 18 U.S.C. Sec. 371 by conspiring with Coyne to commit mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1341, citing as overt acts Kearney's use of the mail to request funds for the Five Chiefs Dive Team and Coyne's placing of two telephone calls to Kearney from California approximately six weeks prior to the delivery of the Ford LTD. Count VI charged Coyne with committing mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1341, alleging that Coyne used the mails to execute a scheme to obtain money and property from Albany County by means of false and fraudulent pretenses. It charged that this scheme caused Albany County to purchase cars from Bud Kearney at priceshigher than those offered by competitors and that it caused Albany County unnecessarily to fund a dive team where previously none had been funded by the County, and where there was already one functional dive team in existence. Count VII charged Coyne with violating 18 U.S.C. Secs. 666(a)(1)(B) and 2 by accepting the Ford LTD from Kearney, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with the purchase of the 1988 Mercury Sable, the purchase of other cars by Albany County, and the funding of the dive rescue team.