According to federal authorities, Kerri Bizzell, 43 years of age, a former PHA employee, was sentenced Wednesday to 50 months in prison for extortion and the obstruction of a grand jury proceeding.
Authorities said Bizzell was a manager of the PHA’s small repair and renovation contracts when she abused her position to extort kickbacks in return for the award of work. The indictment claims that over the period of about six months, Bizzell extorted and agreed to accept from two different contractors approximately $25,000. When she learned of the grand jury’s investigation into the extortion, she attempted to prevent one of the contractors from disclosing payments to her. Last year Bizzell pleaded guilty to two counts of extortion and one count of obstruction.
In addition to the prison term the judge ordered Bizzell to pay restitution in the amount of $25,000.
