Ex-SHU Employee Took $900K In Bribes, Pleads Guilty In MA

FAIRFIELD, CT — A former facilities management director at Sacred Heart University pleaded guilty Monday before a federal judge in Massachusetts to charges associated with the acceptance of almost $1 million in bribes.

Floyd Young, 50, of Shelton, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

In addition to his employment at Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Young worked as vice president for campus services for American International College in Massachusetts, director of facilities management at Cornell Tech in New York, and director of facilities management at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York, according to the Associated Press.

Young steered contracts for construction, repair, maintenance and other work to favored contractors who paid him bribes, typically 15 percent of the contract, the news release said. The contractors inflated the amount of the invoices submitted to the schools in order to be repaid the cost of the bribe, according to the news release. Contractors paid Young bribes on a periodic basis, the news release said, adding that on occasion, Young and the contractors arranged for no-work invoices to be submitted to the schools and split the payment.

Young has agreed to pay restitution of $919,066 — the amount he received in bribes, according to the news release.

In March 2019, Young was charged and arrested, the news release said. He is scheduled to be sentenced February 2021. Young could face up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, according to the news release.