$2.4M Environmental Crime Scheme Involved Bribery, Illegal Dumping

CORTLANDT, NY — A former Town of Cortlandt employee and a landscaping company owner have pleaded guilty to a $2.4 million environmental crime scheme, which involved bribes, bid-rigging, embezzlement of public funds and illegal dumping.

Former Town of Cortlandt employee Robert Dyckman and business owner/president Glenn Griffin admitted their role in public corruption offenses in an illegal dumping scheme that cost the town millions and damaged protected wetlands.

Griffin also pleaded guilty to a separate bid-rigging scheme

"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," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. "Brazenly, Griffin then billed and received payments from the Town for removing and hauling away the very materials that he had illegally dumped. Today, 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."

From 2018 until February 2020, Griffin and Dyckman engaged in the elaborate 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 help.

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.

In exchange for access to Arlo Lane, Griffin paid Dyckman cash bribes.

The pair has 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.

Between 2015 and 2018, Griffin also engaged in a bid-rigging scheme. In this case, he 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 he did not work for or have authorization to submit bids on behalf of, so that his actual company 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 of over $133,000.

Griffin, 55, of Cortlandt Manor, pleaded 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, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.

Both are scheduled to be sentenced on December 5, 2024.

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