A former Pacific Gas & Electric employee was sentenced Monday to nearly two years in prison for his role in a kickback scheme to secure PG&E contracts for his cousin’s business, federal prosecutors said.
Ronald S. Schoenfeld, 65, was also ordered to pay nearly $1.5 million in restitution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. Schoenfeld was convicted of charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Investigators said Schoenfeld received kickbacks from his cousin, whose transpiration business was paid more than $80 million by PG&E from 2007 to 2015. Schoenfeld concealed his familial relationship as he helped secure the contracts, prosecutors said.
He also provided confidential information to his cousin and “at times, directly intervened in the consideration of contracts between PG&E and his co-conspirator’s business, all contrary to PG&E’s policies,” the statement said.