Former MD State Worker, Brother Convicted Of Bribery In COVID Scheme

BALTIMORE, MD — A former state corrections worker and his brother were sentenced last week for bribery and ordered to repay the state millions in COVID-19 funds.

James W. DiPino, 62, of Middle River, and Paul J. DiPino Jr., 56, of Phoenix, Maryland, and a company tied to Paul DePino Jr., AB Medical, LLC, were found to have been involved in a scheme tied to the purchase of personal protective equipment by the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Both men entered Alford pleas in the case in August, which meant they did not admit guilt but acknowledged there was sufficient evidence to convict them, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Judge Robert E. Cahill Jr. sentenced James DiPino and Paul DiPino to ten years in prison, with all but one year and one day suspended, followed by three years of supervised probation.

Assets seized by the state from both brothers during the investigation totaling $2.625 million, in addition to a luxury boat, were transferred to the state. James DiPino was ordered to pay an additional $1.239 million in restitution, minus the proceeds from the sale of the boat. AB Medical, LLC was sentenced to a maximum fine of $10,000 and ordered to pay $3 million in restitution.

In the spring of 2020, James W. DiPino worked at the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services as a senior program manager. During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, his job required him to select vendors from which personal protective equipment would be purchased for the department. Beginning on April 10, 2020, he initiated a total of 11 purchases of PPE from AB Medical, LLC, a company secretly associated with his brother, Paul J. DiPino Jr.

James DiPino favored AB Medical, LLC over other vendors, including, on at least two occasions, declining offers from other vendors to supply certain PPE before purchasing that same equipment from AB Medical, LLC at higher prices. James DiPino also processed an order for PPE with AB Medical, LLC after being directed to hold off on doing so by a state official and deceived the official regarding the status of the order.

Over the course of the transactions between the Department of Public Safety and AB Medical, LLC, James DiPino repeatedly pushed to expedite payments to his brother's company, even though the terms of the purchase orders gave the state 30 days to make payment, a court document said.

AB Medical, LLC received its final payment from the State of Maryland on Aug. 25, 2020. Between Sept. 1, 2020, and Sept. 3, 2020, AB Medical, LLC transferred $3 million to James DiPino through two shell companies established by the DiPino brothers.

Prosecutors said James DiPino used that $3 million kickback to fund a personal investment account and to purchase a 2020 Four Winns FSA H350 boat for $278,540, among other things.

“At the height of the pandemic, when many Marylanders struggled to stay afloat, the DiPino brothers selfishly redirected funds away from the State for their own financial gain” said Attorney General Anthony G. Brown in a statement.

This case was investigated by the Attorney General’s Criminal Division Fraud and Corruption Unit with assistance from the Maryland State Police Criminal Enforcement Division.