Guilty plea entered in Harrisburg development scandal

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced earlier this week that David R. Dodd, II, 43, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., pleaded guilty in federal court in Harrisburg to misappropriating funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and to money laundering.

Dodd was involved in the Capital View Commerce Center development. He could be sentenced to 30 years imprisonment, a fine of $750,000. Sentencing has been scheduled for Jan. 20, 2012.

His plea agreement included a civil forfeiture of $1,151,037.43; a 2008 BMW X5 vehicle; a 2008 Mercedes Benz E350W4 vehicle; and $58,041.31 cash.

Dodd also agreed to make restitution to the victims of the crimes to which he pled guilty, as well as the victims of the charges that will be dismissed as part of the agreement.

Dodd was charged in two separate indictments returned by grand juries on June 14, 2010 and Jan. 5, 2011, both involving allegations of fraudulent real estate and business deals. The indictment filed on June 14, 2010, and the evidence outlined in court charged that Dodd utilized a business known as Industrial Design and Construction, Inc. (IDC) as part of the Capital View Commerce Center (CVCC) to purchase pre-cast concrete forms for use in the construction of the building. He did not reveal his own personal interest in IDC. This violated federal conflict of interest requirements.

This concealment led to him wrongfully obtain over $1 million in funds from HUD through programs administered by the City of Harrisburg and Dauphin County. These funds were placed into a brokerage account at Dodd's direction to conceal the existence and ownership of the misappropriated funds. The second indictment will be dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

He also received from HUD $860,454.00 through other programs administered by the City of Harrisburg and Dauphin County to pay contractors who performed and completed work on the CVCC. Although he received that money, he allegedly kept it and did not pay the contractors. This charge and the others to which Dodd did not plead will still be considered by the court at sentencing.