$1M SEPTA Scamming Scheme Ends In Jail For Gloucester Twp. Man: Feds

PHILADELPHIA — A Gloucester Township was sentenced on Tuesday for his involvement in a scheme that defrauded SEPTA out of roughly $900,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Rodney Martinez, 51, of Blackwood, received two years and six months in prison and three years of supervised release, officials said. Martinez was also ordered to pay $292,000 restitution and to forfeit nearly $144,300, officials said.

Another member of the same scheme, David Abell, 73, of Chincoteague Island, Virginia, was also sentenced on Tuesday, according to officials. Abell received five years in prison, three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay more than $213,000 restitution and to forfeit nearly $96,300, according to officials.

Martinez pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme in December, while Abell pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme in November, officials said.

An investigation into Martinez indicated that starting in 2013, while Martinez was a SEPTA vendor, had an agreement whereby he would pay Abell, a SEPTA employee, up to $2,000 monthly to use a SEPTA system to buy items SEPTA never received, according to officials.

Over time, other SEPTA employees and managers became involved with the scheme, officials said.

By 2016, Martinez assumed Abell's role within SEPTA management and within the scheme, according to officials.

Cash payments to Martinez ultimately totaled more than $144,000, officials said. The entire defrauded SEPTA out of roughly $900,000, officials said.

Personal items obtained during the scheme "included valuable gold coins, electronic devices and appliances, designer clothing and expensive tools and equipment," according to officials.

Seven other men — Mark Irvello, 56, of Broomall; Stanley Woloff, 58, of Philadelphia; Stephen Kish, 65, of Philadelphia; Jesse Fleck, 43, of Philadelphia; Peter Brauner, 58, of Kintersville; James Turner, 59, of Horsham; and John Brady, 60, of Blue Bell — were charged along with Martinez and Abell in August with bribery and fraud offenses related to the scheme, officials said.

The seven other men have pleaded guilty and have been or await sentencing, officials said.

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