Former Town of Cortlandt Employee And Business Owner Plead Guilty To $2.4 Million Environmental Crime Scheme

 

Former Town of Cortlandt Employee Robert Dyckman and Business Owner and President Glenn Griffin Plead Guilty to $2.4 Million Public Corruption Offenses in Illegal Dumping Scheme; Griffin Also Pleads Guilty to Separate Bid-Rigging Scheme

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the guilty pleas of GLENN GRIFFIN, the owner, president, and principal of Griffin’s Landscaping Corporation, and ROBERT DYCKMAN, the former Assistant General Foreman for the Town of Cortlandt, in a scheme in which DYCKMAN gave GRIFFIN unauthorized access to the Town of Cortlandt’s Arlo Lane facility to dump loads of unauthorized materials.  After dumping these loads, GRIFFIN received payments from the Town for hauling away the very materials that GRIFFIN had illegally dumped.  GRIFFIN also pled guilty to a separate bid-rigging scheme.  GRIFFIN and DYCKMAN pled guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Victoria Reznik.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “Robert Dyckman, a former Town of Cortlandt employee, used his important public position to enrich himself and damage public land and fragile wetlands by allowing Glenn Griffin, a business owner and president, to illegally dump harmful, unauthorized materials on public property.  Brazenly, Griffin then billed and received payments from the Town for removing and hauling away the very materials that he had illegally dumped.  Thanks to our law enforcement partners and the dedicated prosecutors of this Office, Griffin and Dyckman have admitted to their crimes and must pay $2.4 million in restitution to their victims. Today’s pleas are a reminder that this Office will bring to justice any public official or business leader who defrauds the public and causes damage to our environment.” 

According to allegations in the Indictment and Superseding Informations and statements made in public filings and court proceedings:

Illegal Dumping Scheme

From 2018 until February 2020, GRIFFIN and DYCKMAN engaged in an unauthorized dumping scheme.  DYCKMAN gave GRIFFIN and his employees unauthorized access to Arlo Lane, a Cortlandt facility, to dump hundreds of large truckloads of unauthorized materials such as thick concrete, cement with rebar, tiles, bricks, large rocks, and soil.  After the illegal dumping, GRIFFIN billed and received payments from the Town of Cortlandt for removing and hauling away the very materials that GRIFFIN had illegally dumped at Arlo Lane with DYCKMAN’s assistance.

            DYCKMAN generally allowed GRIFFIN and his employees access to Arlo Lane on Saturdays or after working hours.  To carry out the scheme, DYCKMAN would attempt to clear senior Town of Cortlandt management away from Arlo Lane around the time of the unauthorized dumping.  When DYCKMAN arranged for a subordinate Town of Cortlandt worker to work overtime when GRIFFIN was dumping unauthorized loads, DYCKMAN would falsely record the worker’s overtime as having occurred during the week in order to conceal the scheme.

In exchange for access to Arlo Lane, GRIFFIN paid DYCKMAN cash bribes.

GRIFFIN and DYCKMAN have agreed to pay the Town of Cortlandt and the Westchester Land Trust, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization which owns damaged wetlands abutting the Town of Cortlandt’s Arlo Lane property, a total of $2.4 million to remediate and restore their property following GRIFFIN and DYCKMAN’s criminal conduct.

Bid-Rigging Scheme

Between 2015 and 2018, GRIFFIN also engaged in a bid-rigging scheme.  GRIFFIN defrauded the village of Croton-on-Hudson for work on its schools, and the hamlet of Verplanck for work at its fire department.  GRIFFIN made sham, non-competitive, and inflated bids on behalf of entities that GRIFFIN did not work for or have authorization to submit bids on behalf of, so that GRIFFIN would be the low bidder in a pool of purportedly competitive bids and receive public money for work on the projects.  Based on these sham, non-competitive, and inflated bids, GRIFFIN was awarded contracts with a combined value exceeding $133,000. 

GRIFFIN, 55, of Cortlandt Manor, New York pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.  DYCKMAN, 52, of Verplanck, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.  GRIFFIN and DYCKMAN are both scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti on December 5, 2024.  

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Westchester County Police Department in this investigation.  Mr. Williams also thanked the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Department of Investigation for their assistance in the investigation.