WHITE PLAINS - The former head of purchasing for Mount Vernon schools will serve time in state prison for shaking down companies in exchange for district contracts, a judge ruled today.
Westchester County Judge James W. Hubert sentenced Arthur Rose to serve 3 1/2 to 7 years in prison for taking bribes as a school district purchasing agent.
Hubert spoke about "the two Arthur Roses" - one a minister for his community and the other a criminal. The judge said he was sentencing the latter.
Rose was convicted of accepting a $3,500 bribe in 2005 to set up a $1.1 million no-bid contract with Ricoh Americas Corp. for 73 digital copiers, products and services.
He was also convicted of taking a $10,000 bribe in 2006 from Tri-State Supply Co., which sells custodial products, after promising its owner he would steer him business with the district, which he did.
The bribes were considered "donations" to Rose's spiritual group, Upon This Rock Ministries.
A jury did not accept the argument from Rose's trial lawyer that he was tricked and manipulated by big-business representatives. The panel convicted Rose of two felony counts of third-degree bribe receiving, three misdemeanor countss of official misconduct and one misdemeanor count of receiving unlawful gratuities.
Rose is appealing the conviction, according to the county District Attorney's Office.
District Attorney Janet DiFiore said Rose used his position to help himself to taxpayer money rather than to help the schools.
"While a state prison sentence should serve to hold Mr. Rose accountable for his direct actions, his contribution to the continuing erosion of the public's confidence in government, in addition to the actual monetary loss, will take far longer to reconcile," she said.
Rose was arrested in 2007 following a state audit that examined the district's purchasing from July 2003 through November 2006. The district suspended Rose from his administrative post in 2006.
Prosecutors at trial said Rose sent invoices to the companies for ministry-sponsored events that were never held, including a $1,000-a-plate "gala."
Hubert sentenced Rose as a second felony offender based on a 2004 grand larceny conviction in Manhattan.
His conviction here violated his probation in the 2004 case. He will be sentenced for a probation violation on March 24.