In a recent legal case, a former FBI agent and a real estate developer from Washington, D.C. were handed two-year prison sentences. This comes after their conviction a year ago for engaging in a bribery scheme linked to a program designed to protect tenants in the nation's capital when property owners decide to sell.
David Paitsel, a 42-year-old former FBI agent, and Brian Bailey, a 53-year-old real estate developer from D.C., were sentenced this week on charges of bribery and conspiracy for their involvement in activities related to confidential information within the Washington, D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development. The announcement was made by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A. Jacobs, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office's Criminal and Cyber Division, and Daniel W. Lucas, the inspector general for the District of Columbia.
Paitsel, a resident of North Carolina, received a 24-month prison sentence for each count, to be served concurrently. He was also sentenced to 24 months of supervised release, a $100 special assessment, and a $10,600 forfeiture money judgment. Bailey, hailing from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was handed a 48-month prison sentence for each count to run concurrently, along with 24 months of supervised release, a $100 special assessment, and a $250,000 fine. Both defendants were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
These individuals were found guilty of bribery and conspiracy charges by a jury on October 7, 2022. Their schemes aimed to facilitate profitable real estate transactions in districts like Shaw and Columbia Heights, according to court records.
Bailey was convicted of providing substantial bribes to Dawne Dorsey, a program specialist with the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development, in exchange for confidential, unredacted Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) sale notices, which included the names of tenants with TOPA rights. TOPA grants tenants in D.C. the right to buy their residence if the property owner decides to sell it. Under TOPA, tenants can transfer this right to a third party. The law obliges the seller to provide offer of sale notices to the Washington, D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development before the proposed real estate transaction, including sensitive information not available to the public, such as tenant names at the property.
In another aspect of the scheme, both Paitsel and Bailey were found guilty of bribery and conspiracy. Specifically, Bailey paid Paitsel to access the contact information of tenants with TOPA rights, a task he carried out by exploiting his special access as an FBI agent to a law enforcement-restricted database.
Dawne Dorsey, aged 40, pleaded guilty to bribery in June 2019 and is awaiting sentencing scheduled for November 6. In a related case, Frederick Silvers from Washington, D.C. also pleaded guilty to bribery and received a five-month prison sentence for the bribes he paid to Dorsey.
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